What If Kim and Jason
by imaninja41
Summary: What if Kim had told Jason that she was pregnant with his child? What if Kim had never left Gotham? Jason Todd OC. Baased on my story Blue Jay. Rated T cause I'm paranoid.
1. Good News

It had been about three weeks since I had told Dick and my parents. Since then, Alfred and Bruce had found out too. Alfred was concerned, but happy for me, Bruce, who could know?

I didn't know what to do any more. I was getting mood swings and Mom helped me with my eating habit's a lot. She had me wanting to just… pig out on bacon burgers and milk shakes. The food I had to eat wasn't always that good, but it was for the baby and I could stomach it.

Jason knew something was wrong, he wasn't stupid. I had managed to avoid his questions so far, sell him some cheap excuse like I wished I didn't have to lie to my parents. That bought him for awhile, but he saw through it eventually. Why wouldn't he? He's Jason Todd.

I was sitting in my room, reading a book a loud while rubbing my stomach. I liked to think of it as a bed time story, since it was almost bed time for me. Mom said no crime fighting while pregnant. I didn't like it, but I didn't argue, She was the expert on these things.

I finished the book and rubbed my stomach a little. It hadn't grown much in the month and a half I had it, but it was noticeable enough. I heard a noise down stairs, the door opening and some one walking in.

"Mom, is that you?" I asked.

No answer.

I stood up, walking to my room door. "Dad, you home?"

Mom had gone to teach her gymnastics class while Dad had gone to the bank to cash a check. Still no answer.

I frowned, grabbing my butterfly knife and heading out to the living room. "Some one here?" I asked.

No one answered. I took a deep breath, and walked to the stair way. "I can hear you, no who's here?"

Silence. I sighed, gripping the butterfly knife tightly, and stepping down the stairs one step at a time. I reached the bottom. The door was wide open, the lights all off. I looked around, but the tinted windows didn't let much light in.

I held the knife ready, nad grabbed a gun off the shelf, it wasn't loaded but most people in Gotham are idiots. They see a gun, they think it's loaded. Jason had told me that once. I walked over to the door, closing it slowly and looking around, I couldn't see any one, but my gut and common cense told me they were here. "I'm going to count to ten, and then I'm going to start shooting." I said, holding the gun up like I had so many times before.

I stepped forward a little, walking step by step to the front desk, that's where a thief would go. Suddenly, hands shot out at me from the dark, they grabbed the gun, yanking the knife away, and pulled me back into a body, I struggled, about to scream, when they slapped a hand over my mouth, yanking me to make me be still. I panted, trying to put my leg behind theirs, but a pair of lips on my ear stopped me.

"Struggling is useless Kimmy." Jason whispered, nuzzling his face into my neck. I relaxed, smiling under his hand.

I lightly touched his hand, and he moved it away. "Jason, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

He chuckled. "Yeah, you should be watching your blood pressure for awhile, shouldn't you?"

I raised an eyebrow, that was kind of a random thing to say. "Jason? What are you talking about?"

He chuckled, wrapping his hands around my waist as he gently walked me over to the front counter, and then pointed to some thing on it. "Look what I found Kim."

I looked at it closely, and then froze. It was the pregnancy test I had taken. The little pink plus was still there. I didn't move, I didn't say anything. I just stared at it, wishing it would just disappear.

Jason's hands tightened, pulling me closer to him. "Did you think you could hide it for much longer?" His hands went from my hips to my stomach, stroking it gently.

I stared at the floor, was he happy about it? Did he want to keep the baby? I know I loved it, I couldn't wait to hold it and smile at it. But Jason wasn't me, Jason was unpredictable. He might want it, he might not. He might want to put it up for adoption, or maybe even abortion. There was no way I could do that.

I started trembling as his hands moved slowly, circling around the bump on my stomach and then rubbing it directly. "Did you think I wouldn't notice the way your body was changing? Or how you're eating differently? Or how you haven't been patrolling anymore? Or even better, how your mom bought diapers today?"

His hands tightened on my stomach, and then relaxed, rubbing it gently again.

"Jason…" I said quietly, not sure what else to say.

His lips went to my ear again, kissing it lightly and then he said, "Yes Kimmy?"

"I… I'm sorry." I mumbled.

He turned me around, glaring right into my eyes. I swallowed, what was he going to do? Was he going to yell at me? He must be angry.

He lifted me easily, putting me in the counter and putting his hands on either side of me. He leaned in closer, still glaring at me. "When were you planning on telling me? If you were planning on telling me at all. Did you think I didn't care? Oh, hi Jason guess what? I'm pregnant and you're going to be a Daddy. Is that so hard to say?" He snapped.

I flinched, looking away from him. "I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I didn't know how you would react, and I couldn't handle it if you got angry at me because of it."

He gently grabbed my chin, tilting my head up to look at him. His gaze softened, and he sighed, "I'm not angry."

"… You're not?" I asked hesitantly.

"No, I'm not." He put his hand on my stomach again, stroking it with his thumb. "I'm… I think I'm happy."

"Happy?" I asked.

He looked up at me, "Yeah, I think so." He went back to rubbing my stomach, and for a long time, neither of us spoke.

Finally, he bent down, kissing the small bump and then sighed, "I don't think I can do it."

"Do what?' I asked, leaning forward.

"Be a father." He said, looking up at me, "I'm not the most… fatherly guy around." he looked down at the bump again, just staring at it.

This wasn't about my fears anymore. I wasn't scared, Jason was happy with the baby. I put a hand on his shoulder, "Jason Todd, you're one of the bravest men I know. You've always been there for me, and I know that you'll be there for our baby, don't be scared."

He looked up at me, smiling, then back down at the bump. "So, what are we gonna call this little guy?"

I thought for a moment, "Jason Junior?"

Jason shook his head, "Nah, lets give the kid something original."

He picked me up, carrying me up the stairs and into my room, "How about Jack?"

"No." I said, "It sounds to plain… we could name him after Dick."

"There is no way I am naming my son Richard, because you know, one way or another, we'll end up calling him Dick." He said, setting me down on my bed.

I shrugged, "Worth a shot."

"How about Spencer?" He asked.

I thought for a moment, "That's a possibility. There's also Jake."

"How about Carlos?" he asked.

"Kevin." I shot back.

"James." He offered.

I shook my head, "This is hard."

He chuckled, jumping onto the bed next to me and running a hand trough my hair. "We've got plenty of time."

I nodded, looking down at my stomach, and a completely evil idea crossed my mind. "What if it's a girl?"

Jason froze, and I smirked, "She'd probably have black hair, since red hair is a recessive gene. Blue eyes, since green eyes are a recessive gene too."

Jason didn't laugh, didn't smile. "My hair isn't black."

I raised an eyebrow, "You never told me that."

He shrugged, leaning down and pulling part of it aside so I could see the roots. "Well, I'm a red head too."

"OK then, our little girl would have red hair and blue eyes." I said, smiling.

Jason frowned, and I continued, "I wonder how old she'll be when she has her first crush." Jason stiffened, and I had to hold back laughter. "Wonder what he'll look like? Blonde hair and dreamy brown eyes maybe?" Jason put a hand around my waist, and cleared his throat, clearly wanting to change the subject. "Oh, wonder who she'll marry."

He snapped, grabbing the little bump desperately, and glaring at me, "First of all, I know it's going to be a boy, second of all, even if it is a girl, she will never, ever, not in a million years like, let alone, crush, on a _boy_." He said, spitting the word out.

I chuckled, kissing his cheek. "Keep telling yourself that Jason, you just keep telling yourself that."

Jason's grip on my stomach tightened, glaring at me, then, a dangerous smirk spread over his face. "Oh, don't you worry Kim. I will personally take care of any male who so much as smiles at her."

My smile fell. If I was going to have a girl, I probably just ruined her love life. For your own sake kid, you better be a boy.


	2. Labor

Three o clock in the hospital, screaming in pain, trying to push my child out of me. Doesn't that sound delightful? It's horrible! I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I'm pretty sure I'm breaking my husband's hand. Jason didn't cringe, but I knew he was in pain too. I didn't care, he put this in me, and he was going to suffer too.

"I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS JASON!" I screamed.

"You said you wanted a family." He whispered, trying to not make to much noise.

"YOU DID THIS TO ME!" I yelled, screaming as the pain increased.

"Mrs. Todd, please, focus on pushing." The nurse instructed.

"I'LL PUSH YOUR RIBS INTO YOU'RE LUNGS IF YOU DON'T STOP TELLING ME TO PUSH!" I shouted.

The nurse busied herself, and then finally looked up, "The baby is crowning, sir would you like to see?"

Jason raised an eyebrow, "Uh, sure." He looked over in between my legs and his eyes bulged, "Oh God."

He ripped his hand away from me, and dashed to the edge of the bed, grabbing the waist basket, and dry heaving into it several times. He looked back up at the nurse, "Get it out of her! Please, dear God, just get that thing out!"

The nurse looked taken back, but went back to work, as did I. I'll slap him later.

After several minutes (Which felt like hours) I finally felt complete and utter relief, as a babies scream pierced through the air. "Congratulations." The nurse said, wrapping the baby up and handing it to me. "It's a girl."

Jason stood up, getting a hold of himself, and slowly walking over to me, looking at the little bundle. I couldn't help but stare at her, she looked so much like Jason, I could see it already.

Jason took in a deep breath, "Oh my God, she's so beautiful."

I smiled down at the little girl, holding her closer as her screamed ceased. She opened her eyes, looking around in wonder, trying to understand what was going on. Why was she here? What were all these strange sounds? Who were these people staring at her? Why had she been taken from the one place she had felt safe and brought into this cold loud place?

Cars honked outside, and the baby started fretting, crying and screaming her head off. Jason carefully took the baby into his hands, rocking it back and forth slowly. "Shh, it's OK baby, that's just Gotham. Might wanna get used to it." He cooed softly.

I stared at him in wonder, wow, Jason was going to be a great Dad.

The nurse spoke up, "What are you going to name her?"

Jason shrugged, not looking away from our little girl, "We planned on it being a boy, we were going to name him Justin."

A thought suddenly occurred to me, "What about Justine?"

He looked up at me, and then smiled. "Fine with me."


	3. BBQ

Jason had insisted on moving completely out of Gotham, away from all the crime that plagued Gotham City itself, and into a small subdivision in Star City. The neighborhood was very nice, the people were friendly and the streets were clean. As soon as Kim saw Jason packing his costume and weapons to take to the new house, she knew he would still patrol every night. Figured he wouldn't catch much more than pick pockets and muggers in their very small neighborhood, but whatever made him content. She knew the quiet life wasn't exactly Jason's style, and he was sacrificing a lot.

He claimed it was to keep the baby safe. Kim could believe that, but she knew he wanted her away from the fight, safe at home where he could come back to her in the evenings, sure the worst injury she would have gotten would be a paper cut with the occasional cut from a steak knife.

Jason had a job as a mechanic, and he had convinced her to become a homemaker, thinking the baby would do better with one parent who was always around. Kim didn't like the idea at first, thinking she could do better, have a cooler job, one that people looked at as important, until she realized how much work being a Mom was. Every day Jason went to work and Kim would be at home alone with baby Justine. It was hard, especially since she took care of the house as well as the baby. When Jason came home he was usually to tired to help with house work, not to mention he left the house at midnight for patrolling around their small neighborhood, sometimes even the neighborhoods around theirs.

Kimberly Mathilda loved a challenge, and Justine gave her countless ones. Her dignity grew, she learned to hold her head high where ever she went, especially when she was covered in spit up at Wal-Mart.

They had disappeared from Gotham about three months ago, dropping off the radar. She sent traceless calls to her parents, and letters with no return address. She sent baby pictures of course, and she knew from the camera she had hidden in her old house her parents had fallen in love with the granddaughter they had never met.

Justine had been born last month, and that's when they had moved in here. They didn't know many people around them, but that's what they were trying to find out now. At a neighborhood BBQ.

Jason was a fantastic actor, playing up the American Dad act like he was born to do it. He helped the other guys setting up tables and cooking the steaks, burgers, and fries, laughing at dad jokes. Kim was smiling at him, cradling Justine in her arms while Jason and her were introduced to a man who was thinking about moving into the house across from them. His name was Russell Andrews, little shorter than Jason with light brown crew cut hair and brown eyes. He was polite, and all he really wanted was to make friends and have a good time.

"Yeah," Jason said, smiling at him, "Everyone in the neighborhood loves that house."

David, a pure blood hillbilly man laughed, nudging Jason with his elbow, "Yeah, cause everyone in the neighborhood has that house!"

Kim and Jason laughed, and Justine stirred from the light slumber she had fallen into. She opened her eye, blinking at her mother, and babbled out something, sounding aggravated to be woken up. She kicked her feet violently, demanding to not be ignored. Justine wasn't two full months old yet, and she already had her father's temper. She would be a handful as a teenager.

Kim bounced Justine up and down softly, and the baby just fixed her mother with a look that said 'stop it right now!'. Kim stopped, chuckling at her baby, and Jason carefully took Justine, balancing her in his arms so her head rested on his shoulder, and made funny faces at her.

Justine stared at him, and then grabbed a fist full of his hair, yanking him towards her. Jason grunted, trying to tug away but Justine was having none of that. She gripped harder, and squealed, protesting being woken up in such a way as laughter. "Ow, Justy, cut it out. Pleeaaase?" Her father begged.

Justine contemplated this for a moment, gave one last tug, and let his hair slip away. Jason beamed at his little girl, "That's my girl." He handed her back to Kim, and turned to his snickering new friends, all deeply humored by Jason acting like a whiney little girl.

David smiled as a woman wearing a purple sundress walked up. She had a blonde bob and was wearing light make up, enhancing her features to make her look striking. "Jason and Kim, this is Beth Andrews, she's Russell's wife. She's a commodities broker, she works down at Filer's Investments."

Kim smiled at Beth, "Oh, a commodities broker, that sounds intriguing."

Beth chuckled, "Well it can be quite a challenge. But I gotta be honest, I eat it for breakfast! Ah, what do you do Kim?"

Kim smiled, "I'm a homemaker." Beth's eyes glazed over a bit, a reaction Kim was used to getting by now. "Well, we only have one child," Kim looked down at Justine, who was eyeing Beth's shiny sapphire ear rings with a gleam in her eye. "But she can be quite the hand full."

Justine's face suddenly shifted, and she spit up on Kim's tank top. Beth got a slightly appalled look on her face, and looked around for something.

Kim, desperate for a new friend, tried to rekindle the conversation, "But honestly, motherhood is a lot more-"

"Uh huh, that's nice." Beth said, turning and walking over to another woman and her boyfriend, who were dressed similarly to Beth.

-difficult than I thought." Kim finished, turning back to Jason who had been talking to Russell and had missed the exchange.

Kim left Jason to talk to his new friend, and found herself a few other mothers, some with teenagers, some with little seven year olds, and some with babies like Justine. She struck up a conversation with them, exchanging stories and jokes.

After several moments, she heard laughter floating across the yard, and she looked over her shoulder to see Beth, laughing about something, "Throw away my prime years chasing after a bunch of snotty kids? No thank you!"

Kim glared at the back of the woman's head, not liking her at all. The other mothers turned to see what she was looking at, and quickly picked up on the conversation. They held their children a little closer, offended at the woman's loud conversation.

"Hello, no thanks!" Beth said, making obnoxious hand gestures and facial expressions. "Hello I want to do something with my life!"

"Wait a minute!" Kim said, standing up and facing Beth defensively. Beth and the people she was talking to turned to look at her, eyes curious.

Several other people turned to look, Jason being one of them, along with his new friends.

Kim fixed her eyes on Beth's challenging her and her opinions openly. "You consider raising a family, nothing?"

The mother's behind her also glared at Beth, obviously thinking the same thing.

Beth wasn't fazed. She was used to being challenged, and so comfortable with it Kim could tell she had never lost a battle of wills. Kim was about to change that.

Beth smirked at her. "Well it's fine, if you're not suited for more… substantial things."

Everyone's attention was on the pair now, some with Beth, others with Kim, and the rest wondering what the heck was going on, and when was the cat fight going to break out.

Kim walked towards Beth slowly, "Do you have any idea how much suffering would fail to take root if more people were just good parents?"

"Well I- uh-"

"What's more important than that?" Kim questioned, walking more confidently. "What kind of job?"

"Um-" Beth was a loss for what to say, and Kim wasn't going to let her recover. She had her on thin ice and she intended to hammer her hard now, not wait for her to gain stability.

"What about a job saving lives?"

"Uh-"

"Is that important?"

"Yeah-"

"What about a job risking my life?"

"I-"

"What about confronting evil on a daily basis for years; just so people like you could sleep in safety and security?" Kim asked, now right in front of Beth. Eye to eye with her, she dared Beth with eyes and mouth to defy her, or even attempt to. "Would you consider that kind of job substantial?"

"Well, yes, I would." She said, fear in her eyes. She wasn't used to a stay at home mom biting back.

Kim stood straight, glaring at her, chin nodded in superiority. "Well that's the job I gave up for my new job: raising a family. And _nobody _is going to tell me that it is _any _less important. Especially a fresh out of college broker who has yet to experience one true problem in her life. Whether it's going through the fear of becoming a mother or the complete terror of losing the man you loved, and losing him to death of all things, twice!"

Beth's eyes widened, "I am so, so sorry I meant no offence. What on _Earth _did you used to _do_?"

If Kim hadn't been a trained vigilante she would have frozen, afraid she might have just given up her secret. Fortunately though, she was. "I was a marine for two years. I enlisted as soon as I was able, wanting to put my life on the line for people I hadn't even _met_. I got flown out to Iraqi, and let me tell you, you don't know exactly what fear is, or what people are really capable of until you see them coming at your face with a gun or a knife, trying to kill you so you never see anyone you care about ever again! You know why I did all of that?"

"I-"

"Because I love this country and I wanted to make sure my family would be able to live here with no fear of having their rights taken away. That is why I did what I did every day. That's why I quit, to come back here and raise my daughter to not be afraid to stand up for what she believes in, or for people who can't!"

Justine's hand suddenly shot out, and she gripped into Beth's right ear ring for all she was worth, yanking it towards her, pulling it out of the clasp and clutching the shiny object with great glee, squealing. Berth cried, out, gripping her ear in pain. Kim gently wrestled the ear ring out of Justine's grasp, handing it back to Beth. "You should thank her, I was going to rip out your cheap extensions."

Kim calmly turned around, walking away with her head held high, back to the other mothers who were looking at her with pride, and at Beth with disdain.

David whistled low, and slapped Jason on the shoulder, "Jason, you are one lucky man."

Jason smiled at his wife, she had done something far more dangerous then being a Marine. If he squinted his eyes, he could still see the spandex and leather that used to cover her as she had jumped roof tops. "Thanks, I know."

Russell shrugged at Jason, "I'll talk to my wife later, her actions were a bit uncalled for. Hey, you play poker much?"

"Not lately, but I used to play it a lot few years back." Jason said honestly. He used to live off of card game winnings in Crime Alley.

"Wanna come over this week end? We could get a group together." Russell offered.

Jason nodded, "Sounds good."

He wasn't used to the whole 'Small neighborhood Dad' business, but poker was something he could do.


	4. Daddy's Here, Don't Cry

Justine squealed in protest, fighting her father by kicking and struggling, she was not happy about having to get a bath. "Come on Justy, please?" Jason begged, trying to lower her into the sink filled with water.

She squealed again, thrashing around and splashing just about everything but herself with water. She babbled out something no one could understand, and gripped onto her father's arm, refusing to go into the water.

"But Justy, you stink, you haven't let me wash you in two days!" Jason protested. "Besides, bath time can be fun."

They had been having a fun day so far, playing in the back yard with the Tonka construction trucks Jason had gotten her last week. But now she was covered in dirt, and she loved it.

However, her mother did not, and as punishment for getting her dirty, Jason had to bathe her. Justine tried to bite down on his arm, but she didn't have teeth. So she bit him with her gums.

He chuckled at that, and grabbed the sprayer, and hosed her down as fast as he could while she thrashed and squealed. He grabbed the sponge, trying to remove as much dirt and sweat form the baby as he could. Five months old and he kid loved nothing more than dirt.

"Please Justy, just do this one thing for me?" He begged, pouring the soap in her arm and scrubbing carefully as she screamed her protest. Finally, he rid her of dirt, and dried her off, sighing to himself. He set her on the counter, and turned around to drain the sink, when a coffee cup hit the back of his head. He turned around to see Justine, a smirk gracing her small lips.

"Did you just-… never mind." He mumbled putting the coffee cup back on the counter. Five months old and she already had his smirk and impossible attitude. Dear god, how long before she stole tires off Green Arrows car? Considering they lived in Star City, instead of Gotham, pretty soon.

He quickly picked Justine up, carrying her to her small room that consisted of a rocking chair, a changing table, and a cradle. Unlike most baby rooms, all the furniture was black in here. Sure they had toyed with the idea of pink or white, maybe even lavender, but then they figured, why kind themselves? They all knew who she really was.

He laid her down on the changing table, and looked for something to change her into, since the overalls she had been wearing were to dirty to put back on.

H grabbed black onsie he found, and quickly put if on her, only then realizing it was black with a yellow bat symbol on the front, "Kimberley…"

Justine reached for him, demanding to be picked up. He scooped her up, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, and buried her face in his shoulder, making a sound between a yawn and a baby babble, she was tired.

He hummed a little, walking over to the rocking chair making sure he walked without bumping or jostling the five month old. He sat down, humming softly and rocking slowly.

She sighed, content, and loosened her hold, just nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck, and slowly falling asleep.

Jason smiled, holding her a little tighter. This was his baby girl, his little Justine. She was already a lot like him, and he could tell she was going to be a real hard case. Who knew what trouble she was going to stir up? Maybe put a piece of paper on Green Arrow's back that said 'I'm gay for Red Arrow', or maybe even take a permanent marker to the Arrow signal to make it look like the bat symbol when they turned it on.

Well, at least since they were in Star City, she couldn't get into that much trouble, right? No Penguin for her to paint his nose to make it look like a carrot, no Two Face for her to replace is coin with a Canadian coin, and most importantly, no Batman or Joker for her to get caught up in the family business.

"Perfect." He mumbled to himself.

The phone rang, and Jason carefully got up, setting the sleeping baby down on the changing table and quickly answering it. It was just Russell, calling about their poker game tonight. "Yeah, it's still on… You got Bobby and David to come too right?… Great… yeah, see ya tonight."

He hung up, going back into the babies room, just in time to see Justine crawling to the edge of her changing table, leaning over the side. In one completely paralyzing moment, he saw her fall.

"NO!" He shouted quickly, throwing his arms under her and yanking her away from the ground and into the crook of his neck, holding her tightly and taking a deep breath, looking at the ground as if it was covered in poisoned snakes trained to kill red headed babies.

He pulled Justine's face away from his neck, looking at her. Her face was filled with fear, she knew she had been in danger. For a baby, she was smart, she had known something was wrong the minute she started falling.

"It's OK." Jason cooed. "You're safe now, Daddy's here. Daddy won't let you get hurt."

He cradled her in his arms, stroking her hair and waiting until she fell asleep. He laid her in the cradle this time, watching her intently, guarding her from any more dangers.

Kim came in a little later, seeing him nearly in pieces. "What happened?"

"She fell." He said, "I caught her, sure, but it was my fault she fell. I just put her down on the table for a minute to answer the phone… I didn't think she would…"

Kim hugged him, "Jason, it's Ok. You messed up, we all do. You'll learn, and so will I. We're new at this and it's granted we're going to make mistakes. The point is we learn from them. Next time, take her with you instead of putting her down, or put her in the cradle like you're supposed to."

Jason smiled, hugging her back, and then scooped her up, taking her out of the baby's room and into theirs. He set her down on the bed, closed the door, and tackled her, pinning her to the bed.

She gave a short cry of surprise, but his lips cut her off. She moaned, and he pulled away, nuzzling his face into her neck. "I love you." He whispered, sending shivers up her spine as his breath tickled her neck.

"I love you too." She said.


	5. She's On My Side

"Come on Justy, you can do it!" Jason encouraged, helping his daughter stand up, and then letting her go.

Justine wobbled, tried to put one foot foreword, and then started to fall. Jason caught her of course, and then started over. He had been trying to teach her to walk for about half an hour now, but she didn't seem all that interested. However, she seemed to be able to tell this was of some importance, and did try to walk.

In order help her walk easily he had dressed her in her favorite outfit, Nightwing pajamas, the top looked like the real Nightwing costume, but the pants had mini Nightwing symbols all over them.

Jason sighed, and tried again to get her to stand up, but she had had enough! She smacked his hand, and squealed in protest.

Jason covered his ears, "OK! OK! I get it, you wanna take a break. Fine!" He said, holding up his hands in surrender.

She stared at him for a minute, before breaking into a one toothed grin and giggling.

Jason smirked, shaking his head, "Alright, what ya wanna do?

Justine looked towards the small basket in the corner of her room, filled with small cardboard books. Jason nodded, grabbing her favorite one, a small book make of cloth.

"My cuddly cloth dinosaur book." He read. He pulled her onto his lap, opening the book.

"Pee Rex." he said, pointing to a picture of a T-Rex with green spots all over it. "Tri carrot tops." He said, and Justine slapped the picture of a triceratops with carrots for horns.

"You like that one?" He teased, he knew she hated carrots, she always spit out the mashed ones he tried to give her.

He flipped the page, pointing to the next one, "Spottyosauraus."

She hummed a little, and he chuckled, pointing to the next one. "Rainbowodon."

She cocked her head to the side, staring at it. He flipped the page, pointing to the last one, "Sunnydactill!"

Justin pushed the book away, and hit Jason's arm, "boo!"

Jason picked her up, "OK, lunch time it is."

He carried her into the kitchen, put her in her high chair, and pulled out a Gerber can of… butternut squash and lima beans. "No." Jason said firmly, pushing the jar back into the fridge. "I'm a father, not a health nut."

He walks over to the fridge, and pulls out the remains of his dinner last night, KFC mashed potatoes. He heated them up, mixed gravy in, and gave Justin a spoonful.

She paused for a moment, before opening her mouth wide, wanting more. Jason chuckled, "Just wait until you're allowed to eat the chicken."

He gives her another spoonful, and she eats quickly, until soon, it's all gone.

She babbles, wanting more, but there's none left, so Jason just fixes her a bottle.

Pretty soon, she's done, and ready to keep playing. Jason picks her up, and puts her on the floor in the living room, sighing, "I bet your mom five bucks I could get you walking by the end of the week… guess I'm gonna have to lose."

Suddenly, the front door opened, and Kim walked in. She set her stuff down in the kitchen, "Jason?" She called.

"We're in here." He answered.

She walked into the living room, and smiled, "How's training her to walk coming along?"

He shrugged, "Fine."

Kim sat down on the floor, five feet form Justine, "Mommy's home."

Justine reached for her, but her mother refused to pick her up, she babbled something, and then got to her hands and knees, then, suddenly stood up straight, and toddled over to her mother.

Kim grabbed her, holding her close as Justine babbled something, seeming very happy.

Kim turned to Jason, who smirked. "She's on my side."

Kim sighed, handing Jason five dollars. "You win."

He smirked at her, mischievous, "Do I get another prize?"

She stood up, holding Justine. "No." She said, walking out of the room, "You'll be lucky if you get a kiss from me in the next three weeks."

Jason sat on the floor, stunned. Frustrated, he growled, "Man, I can't ever win with this woman!"


	6. Batman Knows

As soon as Jason hears crying form the baby monitor, he gets up, and tells a groaning Kim, "I've got this one, go to sleep."

He walks out of the room, in sweat pants and a muscle t-shirt, yawning and stretching, know Justine will keep him up for awhile.

As soon as he enters Justine's room, he knows something is wrong. The presence in the room, it's familiar. He walks over to the crib slowly, the blankets that Kim had carefully tucked around their baby girl had been ripped away.

Justine hadn't done it, her little feet couldn't have been able to kick the blankets that far off of her.

Someone had ripped them off of her, and had seen her. He looks over to the window, it's closed, but the lock had been broken from the outside. Someone was in his house.

Normally, Jason would panic, but he knows the feeling of being watched by those cold eyes so well.

He carefully pulls the blankets back over his daughter, and gathers her up in his arms, before turning around and coming face to face with the intruder.

Batman.

Jason glares at him, "Get. Out."

The glare he receives shows him that's not going to happen. Batman wants answers, and Batman **will **get them.

"Who's the mother?" Has asks, but he know full well who it is.

"Don't ask me pointless questions." Jason snaps, and Justine cries more, kicking, wanting the yelling to stop.

Jason strokes what little hair she has, trying to calm her so Kim won't come in. That's the last thing he needs.

"You and Kim left Gotham." Bruce says, "Just disappeared."

"What do you think happened?" He asked.

"You got her pregnant." Batman growls, "And then you told her the best thing to do was to leave, leave her family, friends, and her job."

"To protect Justine." Jason says firmly, holding the girl closer, as if trying to protect her from Bruce. "The farther she is from Gotham, the better I'll be able to sleep at night."

"So you brought her to Star City."

"Cleaner, quieter, and just enough action for me to not get bored when I don't have to be around Justine every day." Jason snaps, _Not that I mind being around her so much._

"So you take her away from her family too." Bruce said, disgusted. Jason could care less.

"To protect her." He said firmly. "And don't talk to me like I'm ruining her life."

"You're certainly doing a pretty good job of controlling it." Bruce says, growling.

"When she's old enough to make her own decisions, I'll let her!" Jason screams, and Justine screams to.

Jason turns his attention away form Bruce, to Justine. He holds her carefully, talking to her calmly, "Shh, Justy, don't cry." He says, holding her carefully.

"Shh, please don't cry Justy." He rocks her back and forth softly, each word he speaks, it's coated with fatherly love and affection.

Bruce watches silently, and eventually, the door opens, and Kim is standing there, looking at Bruce with accusation. "You, shut up."

She walks over to Jason, taking Justine. After being held by her mother, she calms down, crying less. Kim turns to glare at Bruce, "You woke her up."

"You left." He counters.

"I did it for her." Kim defends, as Jason pulls her and Justine closer.

"You did it for **him**." Batman growls, and Jason looks at the ground, hurt. The man he looked at as his father, talking about him as if he was a piece of garbage.

Kim walks over to Bruce defiantly, "You get out of my house, right now! When your ready to talk to me without the mask, knock on the front door!"

Batman glares at her, about to say something, but she smacks him right across the face. "Get out!" She orders, and the baby screams again, just wanting the confusion to end!

Batman leaves, and Jason takes Justine from Kim. "You should go back to bed, I won't be able to sleep tonight anyway."

"Should I call work, tell them your sick?"

"Yeah." Jason says halfheartedly, finally able to calm Justine down.

He sat up with her for hours, watching the moon slowly move across the sky. He thought over what had happened, what he needed to do. Finally, when the sun finally peeked over the horizon, he looked down at the sleeping little girl in his arms.

"He'll never hurt you. No one will." He said, each word a commandment he was setting for his future life, no, his new mission. "I will **never **let them."


	7. Timmy!

The sudden knocking was loud, obnoxious, and constant. Kim sighed, sitting Justine down on the floor, and walking out of the room.

She headed to the front door, and opened it, revealing an overly excited Richard Grayson. "Where is she?" He squealed, sounding like a teenage girl.

"What?" Kim asked.

"Where's Justine! I haven't ever seen her yet! Come on, where is she, I wanna see her!" He begged.

Some one behind Dick stepped foreword, **Tim**. "Hey Kim, bet you're wondering how we found out."

Dick ran inside, past Kim and into the living room. Kim turned to Tim, "Kind of… yeah."

"Bruce told Alfred, Alfred told Dick, Dick told me, and he had his heart set on seeing his… well, niece I guess."

Kim nodded slowly, and suddenly Dick's squeal of delight came from the living room, "She's so cute!"

Kim and Tim walked into the living room, seeing Dick cuddling Justine with a huge smile on his face, and Justine wide eyed and mouth open, in shock.

Kim laughed, "Uh Dick, I think you're giving her childhood trauma"

Dick pulled away from Justine, smiling at her, and she stared at him, just trying to figure out _who _he was and _why _he was smiling _all _the time, and holding her even though she didn't know him.

She turned to Kim, "Mama!" She said loudly. Kim picked her up, much to Dick's disappointment, and held her close, but angled her so she was looking at Tim.

Tim gave her a small smile, "Hi."

She stared at him, and then grunted, reaching out to him. Kim handed her to Tim, who held her a little awkwardly. "Uh, am I doing this right?"

Kim shook her head, "Don't hold her under her arms, that hurts her. Cradle her." She positioned his arms a little better, and Justine settled into his arms comfortably.

She stared up at Tim, and he stared down at her, smiling a little. She suddenly broke out into a grin that made him flinch. The cute little girl's face had suddenly turned into Jason's. She grabbed a fistful of his hair, and yanked hard.

"Ow!" He complained, trying to pull away from her.

Kim laughed, and Dick took her from Tim.

"That's one mean kid." Tim complained.

"Are you insane?" Dick asked, cuddling Justine again. "She's an angel! That's probably just her way of saying she likes you."

Justine brought her hand across Dick's face, smacking him as hard as she could, and babbling excitedly, kicking and wiggling in his arms.

He laughed, setting her down and she grabbed onto his knee, and then let go, stumbling across the floor.

"Come back here you little monkey!" He said in baby talk, rushing after her.

Tim turned to Kim, "So, how's Jason?"

"He's at work right now." She said.

"What work?" Tim asked suspiciously.

"Well, he's a mechanic, he works weekdays at the Auto Shop down the street." She said.

"What does he do at night?" He asked.

"Patrolling." She said, shrugging.

Tim scoffed, "You making sure he doesn't kill people? Or are you just crossing your fingers?"

She fixed him with a stern look, "We have lived her for over a year, and the only things Jason has had to deal with are a few muggers and one rapist, which are all safely locked away in prison. Not in a morgue."

Tim paused, "I'm sorry."

She shook her head, "Forget it, it's your nature."

"And the fact he's nearly killed me?" Tim asked. "I've still got the scars."

"I'm not saying he's an angel." Kim said, trying to settle in the middle.

"And her?" Time asked, "She looks just like him."

"So? That's genetics." Kim debated.

"That's risky." Tim shot back.

"How so?" She challenged.

"Kim." He began, knowing he was treading on dangerous soil. "What if she turns out like him? Can you really deal with two trigger happy lunatics?"

Kim stiffened, and Tim knew she had taken it badly.

"Jason is not crazy," She said firmly, in a way that even Bruce wouldn't argue with. "And Justine is a good kid. I can see a lot of myself in her already, and I am telling now, if you ever call either one of them crazy again, I will go trigger happy on you."

"Kim, you wouldn't-"

"I've been raised to fire a gun without hesitation Timmy." She snapped, "And you would do a very good job to remember that fact, and the fact I'm not exactly a Bat. I'll follow my own rules and morals thank you very much."

Tim stared at her, and then nodded, "OK." He sighed, looking around, and seeing two pistols hidden underneath a bookshelf on the far wall. He looked pointedly at them, "What happens when she gets big enough to grab those?"

"Then we'll move them." Kim said, shrugging. "Jason likes to have some security that I'll be safe here while he's at work."

Tim laughed, "Stay at home Mom doesn't seem like your thing."

"When she can stay at home alone I'll find a job." Kim said, smiling at him.

Tim hesitated for a moment, "Well, if you ever need… a babysitter or something… I'll probably be able to… help you out."

Kim smiled, "Thanks Tim. You'll be her favorite uncle."

Suddenly, they heard a scream come form the back yard. "GET AWAY FROM MY BABY GRAYSON!"

Kim rushed outside, to see Jason pinning dick to the ground with one arm, Justine sitting off to the side, laughing uncontrollably.

"Jason!" Kim shouted, "Stop it, he was only playing with her!"

Jason shook his head, "He was holding her upside down! That's not playing Kim, that's torture to a baby!"

Tim walked outside as well, and Jason glared at him, "Great, do I have to beat up you too?"

Tim glared back, "We were visiting our niece."

"Get out!" Jason barked.

"Jason!" Kim scolded, "They came all the way here from Gotham City to see Justine. They haven't met her yet."

Jason got off of Dick, scooping up Justine and walking over to Kim, "NO, they came to keep tabs on us. Can we get no privacy anymore? First Bruce, now you two? What's it going to take for you to leave us alone."

"How about when you're either sane, or behind bars?" Tim barked back. Jason raised a fist to hit Tim, but a sudden scream stopped him.

"**Timmy**!" Justin shrieked, reaching out for him to hold her.

Kim and Jason froze, while Tim just stared at Justine. Dick stood up, walking over, "What's the big deal? I mean, that's not like, her first word, is it?"

"Actually." Kim said slowly.

"First word." Jason said, staring dumbfounded at his daughter. "Her first word was your name." he looked at Tim helplessly, then back at Justine, "No, don't say Tim, say Daddy! Say Daddy!"

"Timmy!" She exclaimed again, reaching out for Tim, who gladly took her from Jason.

"Come on Justin." Tim said to the baby, "Let's go watch cartoons while Mommy takes Daddy to therapy, huh?"

"Timmy!" She screamed again.

Everyone stared at the two as they walked into the house. Kim was happy that Justine had finally spoken, Jason was ready to murder Tim, and all Dick had to say was, "Did he just call her Justin?"

,


	8. Daddy!

Getting Justine, or Justin as Tim called her, to talk had been a happy day for Kim, but the worst day of Jason's life.

He sat on the couch, shaking his head, "She said Tim… TIM!"

"I know Jason." Kim said, sighing, "He is her uncle, and you got her all riled up."

"Grayson got her all riled up!" Jason snapped. "He hung her upside down, by her feet!"

"He was playing with her." Kim defended.

"That was torture!" Jason said. "A medieval torture strategy, she was screaming!"

"Until then, that's the only way she ever knew how to communicate Jason." Kim explained. "She was laughing, she liked it."

"No, she hates him! She has to hate him!" Jason said desperately. "They are not going to be friends, I forbid it!"

"Trust me Jason, when she gets older, she'll hate him _and _Bruce." Kim promised. "But you have to let her know them first, or else there's nothing to hate about them."

Jason paused, "Okay fine."

"Good, cause we're going on a date tonight, and Tim's babysitting." Kim said.

"No!" Jason said, jumping up, "No, no, no, no, no! For the love of God noooooooo!"

"Jason, my entire life has started to revolve around Justine, and although I love her, it's not healthy for me _or _her. I am _going _on a date with you tonight, and that is that."

"She's to young for a babysitter!"

"She's almost two!" Kim snapped. "My mother had the teenage girl next door babysitting me before I was one."

"Well that's your problem." Jason mumbled.

Kim gave him a look, "I will wear a dress, which will come above my knees, and will be low cut a the neck."

Jason hesitated. "Sleeveless."

"Deal." Kim said.

"And, it has to be blue." He said.

Kim nodded, "Fine. But no sparkles or feathers, or rhinestones."

Jason nodded, "Okay… get me a beer?"

Kim rolled her eyes, "Uh huh."

LATER THAT NIGHT:

"Emergency numbers are on the counter- oh who am I kidding, you know what to do if a guy tries to kill Justine right?" Kim asked.

"Beat him to a pulp and call the cops after giving him a death threat that makes him pee his pants." Tim said.

"No you idiot!" Jason said, rushing into the room, dressed in black slacks, a red button up shirt, and a black tie, "You knock out the scum bag, leave him in the shed out back, and when I get home, you don't tell Bruce about the un-Godly screams or the gun shot you heard."

Kim sighed, "Tim, just don't let anything happen to her."

She grabbed Jason, pulling him out of the house.

Tim turned to Justine, who was sitting on the floor, wearing a black t-shirt and red overalls with a black bat symbol on the front pocket.

He smiled down at her, "What's up?"

She smiled, "Timmy!"

Tim chuckled, scooping her up and carrying her to the living room. "How about a movie? Barney or Barbie?"

He looked through the movies, but didn't find anything kid appropriate. He turned to Justine, "Where are you movies Justin?"

Justin pointed to the bottom shelf, idly sucking on her dark blue pacifier. Tim looked down there, seeing several seasons of The Simpsons, South Park, and Family Guy. Tim's eyes widened, "You watch this stuff?"

Justine grabbed a Simpsons case, holding it up. Tim shook his head, "Uh… lets just play with your toys…"

Tim took out Justine's blocks, and showed her how to stack them. Justine grabbed one, and held it in her hand for a moment, before chucking it at Tim's head.

Tim grabbed it in midair, narrowing his eyes into the Bat glare, but Justin just laughed, kicking her feet. Tim growled, "You're his daughter all right. Pretty soon you're gonna be defying Batman, and running around with guns, and beating me with a crowbar-"

"Which is exactly why I'm here." Came a deep voice Tim would know anywhere.

Tim stood up, turning around, "Bruce?"

Bruce stood there in a dark black sweater and kaki slacks. "I'm not going to let her gro up with him Tim."

Tim's eyes widened, "You're… kidnapping Justine?"

Bruce paused, "It's more complicated than that, but when you get right down to it… yes."

"But… this is her family." Tim said slowly. He had never really known Bruce to make a wrong decision, to cross a line that just shouldn't be crossed.

"Tim, do you really want her to be her father?" Bruce asked.

Tim hesitated, "Well… no, but just because she lives with him-"

"Think about it Tim, every girl idolizes her father, if she grows up with Jason as a father, what's going to happen when she adapts his morals by watching him live with his?"

Tim couldn't deny the numbers once he ran them, but he wished he could, "She'll… well, she'll be him."

"I've let Jason do this to himself and to Kim, but I won't let her get caught up in this, she's a child, and I'm not going to let her be robbed of that."

Justin staggered to her feet, wobbling a bit, before standing straight, and looking at Bruce's left leg. She toddled over to his leg, reaching it and grabbing onto it with a surprisingly strong grip. Her eyes traveled from his knee to his thigh, to his stomach, shoulders, then face.

Her head tilted to the side, staring up at him with an unreadable expression. Tim bit his lower lip. _No Bruce, this isn't right. She's a baby, and you're wrong._

Justin suddenly bit down on Bruce's knee cap, not just a nibble, but she really chomped down, she was practically trying to dig his knee cap out with her four little teeth. Bruce didn't even wince, but Tim could see the pain in his eyes. He reached down, prying Justin's mouth off of his knee. He picked her up carefully, making her look him in the eye.

She smiled a big toothy grin, revealing red streaks dancing across her teeth. Bruce's blood. "Bruce!" She exclaimed.

Normally, a baby can't pronounce the 'r' for a long time, but Justine had nailed it the first try.

Tim's eyes widened, now Kim was gonna have to deal with an even angrier Jason. He knew that Jason was going to hear her say Bruce's name, because Tim's decided not to let Bruce take her.

Justin grabs Bruce's front bangs, yanking and giggling while she did it. Bruce just ran his thumb over the front of her overall pocket, tracing the bat symbol, lost in thought.

Tim stepped forward, "Bruce, just put her down."

Bruce raised his eyebrow at Tim, who slowly wrapped his hands around Justine also, gently pulling her out of Bruce's hold. "You're not taking her away Bruce, she's happy here."

Bruce shook his head, "She's to young to make that decision."

"She loves her father!" Tim said, exasperated. "Tell you what, if she grows up and starts acting against your code, then we'll consider taking her, but I don't think it's necessary to go that extreme yet."

"I can't risk that even beginning to happen." Bruce said, and stepped forward to take Justine from Tim, who was at such a loss at what to do. He didn't know if he should try to fight Bruce, of just let him take Justin and then go squeal to Jason immediately.

Bruce grabbed Justine's shoulders, about to pull her from Tim's hold, suddenly, a shot rang out, and a bullet imbedded itself in the wall right next to Bruce's head.

They both turned to see Jason, a glare on his face that was about ten times worse then the bat-glare. Tim had only seen that expression on Bruce's face twice before, once when Dick had been beaten to a bloody pulp by a group of thugs, and when Tim himself had nearly died at Jason's hands. Tim nearly peed his pants right there, because even his experience with the bat-glare could never prepare him for the daddy-bats-glare.

"You put my daughter down right now or this time I'll aim for the wall and hit you." Jason said, grinding out the threat with every intention of carrying it out. This time he was serious, father or not, he would kill Bruce.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the three of them, Bruce was not going to be swayed with threats, Jason would die before he let his daughter be kidnapped, and Tim just wanted to go crawl under Justin's bed for a week or so.

Suddenly, there was a squeal of pure childhood delight, Justine reached her tiny little hands out for Jason, kicking her feet and a beaming smile on her face. "Daddy!"

Jason's eyes widened, his hand releasing his tight grip on the gun. Tim beamed right along with Justin, setting her down on the floor as she rushed over to her daddy, wrapping her arms around his knee.

"Daddy!" She squealed again.

Tim shook his head, realizing this to Justin, this was a very fun night. She had gotten to abuse his forehead, bite Batman, and expanded her vocabulary. Jason click on his gun's safety, scooping up Justine.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, putting her face into his shoulder, babbling something unintelligible. Little by little, Tim saw Jason's stony glare melt, and vanish.

Jason tucked Justin more securely under his arm, then looked Bruce square in the eye. "I'll forgive you this once, but if you ever try to take my daughter away from me, I will kill you. I have no guilt about her growing up with only one grandfather."

Jason turned around to walk out of the front door, but Tim stopped him. "Where are you going?"

Jason whirled around, eyes trying to snap Tim's skull in two. "TO DICK'S! GET JUSTY A BABYSITTER WHO CAN ACTUALLY DO HIS JOB! GROW A PAIR REPLACEMENT!"

Jason turned around, and Justin called over his shoulder, "Grow a pair Timmy!"

Tim glared after them. "I hate my life."


	9. What's That Word Mean?

"Do we have to?" Jason wined.

"Preschool is fine Jason." Kim debated. "Look, we need some more income, and I'm ready to go to work. Now, unless you want me to get Tim to baby-sit again-"

"No." Jason said firmly.

Kim nodded slowly. The fact Bruce had tried to kidnap her baby girl was hard to accept, but she knew it was true. Bruce was against them, against them being happy together, but to him, it was more than that. Bruce thought he was doing the right thing, he was just wrong.

"Wasn't Tim's fault, Bruce is just-"

"Not Tim." Jason said firmly. "I'll leave the kid with Penguin if I have to, just not Tim."

"Preschool?" Kim asked softly, sitting next to Jason on the couch.

"You have any idea how many shots Bruce is gonna have at grabbing her there?" Jason asked.

Kim was silent, "Well, we can't keep her at home forever." She hated the thought as much as he did: Justine being beyond their reach, them not being able to keep her safe. "Eventually she has to go to school."

"There's a big difference between her being six and her being one." Jason debated. "Dick can keep her when we need him to. Golden boy's not gonna let Bruce kidnap her. No chance, no way."

"You think Tim would?" Kim asked.

"No, I know he's to good for that. But, Tim hates me. On top of that, Tim doesn't have a chance against Bruce, Dick on the other hand, has a much better shot at getting Justine out of his way."

Kim nodded, "Guess that rules out my parents."

"Kim, don't get me wrong, I love your parents, they're pretty awesome, but against Batman… I just don't want my little girl to…" Jason trailed off.

Kim reached over, putting a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "It's okay Jason."

He shook his head, "I don't know what I'm going to do Kim. I know we need some more money around here, or we'll lose the house in a few months, and then there's the electricity bill, and so many other things, but my daughter…."

Kim suddenly lit up, "Actually, I think I might have an answer to this."

"What?" Jason asked, curious.

"A friend of mine is dropping in for a visit for a few weeks, and she might be able to help." Kim said, smiling. "Only person I know who could kick the crap out of Bruce."

Jason paused for a moment, "Uh… Catwoman?"

"Try again."

"Poison Ivy?"

"You think I'd let that trollop touch my baby?"

"Touché, alright then… I give up."

"Cassandra Cain." Kim said, "She doesn't know about Justin, unless Bruce told her, which I doubt. Me and her were pretty good friends back in the day, I'm sure she'd help us out anyway she could."

"… You mean that Black Bat chick down in Hong Cong?" Jason asked.

"… Yeah." Kim admitted.

"That crazy assassin?" Jason tried to clarify.

"Yes."

"The freaking **daughter **of freaking Lady Shiva?" Jason asked, "Are you nuts!"

Justine rushed into the living room, giggling her head off, "Daddy!"

Jason scooped her up, pulling her onto his lap, "What?"

"Pak!" She demanded.

Jason looked up at Kim, raising an eyebrow.

Kim rolled her eyes, "She wants you to take her to the park. And don't hate on Cassandra, she may be the freaking daughter of freaking Lady Shiva, but Justine is the freaking daughter of freaking Jason Todd."

Jason paused, "Fine. Just make sure she's not gonna hand Justy over to Bats."

He tightened his grip on Justin, carrying her out the door, "We're off to the park!"

"Have fun!" Kim encouraged, grabbing her cell phone, and quickly dialing an old yet familiar number.

"Hello?" Asked a cautious yet strong voice.

"Cass? It's me, Kim." She said.

"Kimberly?" She questioned. "Haven't heard form you in awhile."

"Yeah, things have been… busy lately." Kim confessed.

"Dick called me a few days ago." She said, "Told me some pretty wild stories about you and your _boyfriend_."

"Oh." Kim said slowly, felling a little embarrassed that Cass had to get information about Kim and Jason from Dick.

"You really do have a daughter, don't you Kimberly?" Cass asked. "A daughter with Jason Todd."

"Yes." Kim confessed.

"Did Bruce really try to… try to kidnap her?" She asked, hesitant to believe that the man she idolized would commit such an act.

"I don't wanna believe it either." Kim confessed. "But he did."

"I… feel sorry for you Kim." Cass admitted.

"Well then… maybe you can help me. We need a babysitter." Kim suggested.

"For your daughter?" Cass asked "How old is she?"

"She'll be two in a month." Kim said, "If you stay long enough, you can come to her birthday party."

"Sorry." Cass said, truly meaning it, "I'm halfway across the world Kim. I can't just drop everything like that."

"Okay, that's fine, just tossing a coin is all." Kim said.

"What can you do for a babysitter then?" Cass asked.

"I… I have other friends." Kim mumbled.

"Who Kim?" Cass demanded.

"Dick, Tim, and… my parents." Kim mumbled.

"Are you sure you've got this covered Kim?"

"Yep! Gotta go, bye. Great talking with you!" Kim blurted out, hanging up quickly. "I have nothing figured out." She deadpanned.

**AT THE PARK:**

"Big slide!" Justine demanded.

"Justy, it's not made for little kids." Jason begged.

"Big slide!" She repeated.

"If you go on the big slide, you're gonna get hurt." Jason tried to explain, "Just go on the little slide."

"No!" She snapped. "Big slide!"

"If you go on the big slide, you'll fall off, hit your head, scrape your knees all up, and start crying!" Jason said, exasperated.

"Nu uh!" She screamed, "I… I WANNA GO ON THE BIG SLIDE!"

"Fine!" Jason gave in, throwing his hands into the air, "Go break your neck!"

"Yay!" Justin said, running up the stairs quickly to get to the slide.

"Wait, no!" Jason protested, as Justin reached the top, sitting down on the entrance. "Justy, don't-"

She slid forward, sliding down easily, and when reaching the bottom, rolls off the steep edge of the slide, into a summersault, before coming to rest on her bottom, gleaming up at Jason. She held her tiny arms out to him, "Daddy!"

He scooped her up, "Where did you learn that?"

"Uncle Dick." She mumbled, wrapping her arms around his neck for a moment, before squirming, "I wanna do it again!"

Jason shook his head, "How about the teeter-totter instead?"

"No." She said.

"Swings?"

"No."

"Merry-go-round?" Jason begs.

"Dat's gay." Justin said.

Before Jason can respond to the word that he was sure she had over heard him say, a tiny gasp came from under the steps to the slide, and a little head of brown curls peaked out to look at them.

Justin stared a the girl for a minute, before tilting her head to the side, "What?"

"You said bad word!" She accused.

"So?" Justy asked, squirming to get down, so Jason let her down slowly, and Justy turned towards the other toddler. "What you goon do?"

The girl was silent, before shrugging, "Nodin."

Justy smirked, and Jason watched curiously as she crossed her arms at the girl, "Wuss!"

"Was dat mean?" The girl asked, coming out form under the steps to stare at Justin, confused.

"It means your ascared!" Justy proclaimed, "Scardy-cat!"

"Ascared isn't a word." The girl explained, "Is either scared, or afwraid."

_Why is a toddler giving an English lesson? _Jason wondered, before he heard a voice he vaguely remembered call out, "Kyler!"

The girl turned to look towards a redheaded man trotting over towards her, relief washing over him. "Kyler, I thought I told you to stay by me."

"Didn't want to." The girl explained.

Jason laughed, and Justy looked a the girl carefully, as if trying to decide if she was still a scardy-cat.

"Was your name?" Justin asked, curious.

The man then paid attention to Justine, raising an eyebrow at her, before turning to Jason, "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"No." Came Jason's answer, a little to quickly.

"Kyler." The girl said, pronouncing it carefully. "Kyler Harper. Who are you?"

"Todd." Justin said, puffing out her chest and crossing her arms again, "Justin Todd."

The man's face lit up, "Yeah! Your Jason Todd! Bruce's kid!"

Justin suddenly lit up, turning to look at the man Jason now remembered as Roy, "Bruce? Gandpa is here?"

Jason shook his head, "Nope."

"I didn't know you guys lived out here." Roy said, trying to strike a conversation.

"For two years." Jason mumbled.

Kyler spoke up again, "Wanna go play in the teeter-totter?"

"Dat's gay as hell." Justin snapped.

Kyler gasped again covering her mouth in shock, while Roy just stared in utter disbelief.

Justin smirked, liking that response. She opened her mouth again, "Grow a pair, wuss!"

Kyler frowned, "Don't call me that."

"I'll call you whatever I want to." Justin snapped. She stepped forward, shoving Kyler, making her fall onto her back.

"Justine Todd!" Jason scolded.

"She asked for it." Justin offered for an excuse.

Roy knelt down next to Kyler, about to help her up, but the little girl with brown curls and a degree in English II jumped up herself, tackling Justin.

Justin yelped, started that the nerd would put up a fight, but wasted no time in rolling over, pulling her hair out of Kyler grip, and punching her square in the nose.

Jason grabbed Justin, yanking her off Kyler, and Roy scooped up Kyler, looking her over for wounds, to find the worst she would have was a bruise. He held his little girl tightly, glaring at Jason.

"Little young to be fitting her for a cape Jason!" Roy spat, walking off with Kyler cradled in the crook of his arm.

Jason cursed under his breath, and Justin looked up at him, "What does that word mean?"

Jason glared at her, "It means you're in _big _trouble."

Justin's eyes widened, and Jason dragged his protesting toddler home.


	10. Can You Lift This?

Kim and Jason sat on either side of their daughter, both frowning. Kim finally broke the silence, "Justy, that word is a very bad word, you can't say it anymore."

"Which one?" Justine asked.

Kim raised an eyebrow at Jason, who shrugged back.

Justin sensed the confusion. "I said gay as hell. Which one is the bad word?"

Kim sighed, rubbing her temples. She didn't really want to tell her nearly two year old daughter about lesbians and gay men. "Well, hell, depending on how you use it, is a bad word. Gay isn't really a bad word, it's just a… special word."

"Special?" Justine echoed.

"Yes." Kim explained, "If you use it the right way, to explain something, then is can be a normal word, but if you use it the wrong way, it can hurt… special peoples feelings."

"… Special?" Justin asked again.

Kim nodded, "Special means that something is different from you, but that doesn't make it bad."

"What's gay mean?" Justin asked.

"Well…" For once in the conversation, Kim seemed at a loss.

Jason finally stepped in, scooping Justin off the couch, "I've got this one babe."

He carried Justin out of the room, through the kitchen, and into the garage. He set her down on the cold floor, walking over to his work bench, and taking down an AK-47. He set it down on the floor, gesturing for her to come over.

Justin pulled herself up, toddling across the floor to her father. He kneeled down next to her, gesturing to the large gun. He had picked the only one that wasn't loaded, but he clicked the safety on just to make sure. "Justy, can you lift this?"

She grabbed the barrel of the gun tightly, trying with all her might to lift it, and when that didn't succeed, she tried to drag it, but the little girl couldn't budge the machine gun. She looked up at her father with big curious eyes. "No."

Jason nodded, picking the gun up himself, "See, you're to little to lift it yourself, right?"

Justin nodded.

"So, if you want to move it from here and put it back on the bench, you have to let me do it for you. You can't make me do it, so you have to trust me, right?"

Again, she nodded.

"It's the same problem with knowing things, if you can't carry the burden, then I'll have to do it for you until you're ready, understand?" Jason questioned.

Justy nodded again, not sure where this was going.

"Then, you'll just have to trust me until you're ready to know what that word means, understand?" Jason questioned, putting the gun back on his work bench.

Justin's eyes brightened, understanding the lesson now. "Otay Daddy."

Jason smiled, picking Justy up, but she squirmed in his hold, "No!"

He raised an eyebrow, putting her down. She smiled up at him, "I can carry myself."

She toddled out of the garage, back into the house. Jason's eyes widened, and he sat down on the chair by his bench, mouth falling open a little. She was almost two, of course she could walk by herself. He knew that. He should have known that by now, she wouldn't need him for help.

He rubbed his forehead, not liking this epiphany at all. He sighed to himself, reaching for the mini-fridge by his work bench. "I need a beer."

He pulled one out, opening it and chugging down the first few gulps. She was talking very well for her age, which wasn't a surprise since her mother had talked very well at her age too. Jason smiled to himself, instead of being a ginger, like him, her orange hair was darkening slowly, it would be her mom's color by the time she was ten. Her eyes looked just like her mothers, prettiest blue he had ever seen.

She was walking, playing on the playground equipment that was meant for the older kids, and asking questions she shouldn't be. He really had to start watching his mouth around her.

Justin suddenly toddled back into the garage, "Daddy, I heard you say a word."

"What word?" Jason asked.

Justy smiled pleasantly, a direct contrast from the dirty word that flew out of her mouth.

Jason nearly dropped his beer can, "When did you hear me say that?"

"Playground." She explained.

_Stupid! I can't believe you… actually I can believe you. Only you would curse like that right in front of your two year old kid._

"Uh… it's the heavy burden thing again." Jason explained.

"Okay." Justin said, turned to go away, but then turned back to Jason, "Does Mommy know what it means?"

Jason paused, raising his eyebrow, "Are you trying to black mail me?"

Justin just shrugged.

"You tell your mom about that word, and I'll tell her that your to one who stuck chewing gum under the kitchen table." Jason threatened.

Justin's eyes widened, and she quickly toddled out of the garage again.

Jason smirked, who was he kidding? He was raising his kid right.

**LATER, BEDTIME**

Jason walked into Justin's room, smiling at the sight of her curled up with her plush Nightwing toy, mumbling in her sleep. That kid would just not shut up. She had on her Nightwing pajamas too, and at the foot of her bed rested her red and yellow robin sneakers. He shook his head, sighing, "This is stereotyping."

He walked back into the kitchen, to see Kim staring at the phone book, frowning.

"Kim?" Jason asked.

She looked up at him, smiling at him. "Hey Jason."

"What ya doin?" He asked, pulling out a chair to sit next to her.

"Trying to find where that girl Kyler lives."

"Why?" Jason asked, raising an eyebrow.

"So I can go apologize to Roy and her mother." Kim said. "If my kid beat someone up on the playground, then me and her are going over there first thing in the morning to say she's sorry."

"Roy's kid was the one being a smart ass!" Jason protested.

"Jason, you never respond to verbal remarks in a physical manner." Kim snapped.

"Why nooooooooooot?" Jason whined.

"Jason!" Kim hissed.

"Fine!" Jason snapped. "But while we're on the subject, why does she have a Nightwing plushy doll!"

"The store was out of Batman plushy dolls." Kim explained.

"Kim, maybe you don't understand this, but my _daughter _is sleeping with my legal _brother_." Jason ground out. "And you were gonna have her sleep with my _father_?"

"Jason!" Kim said, shocked, "It's just a doll!"

"Well then why couldn't you get her superman, or green arrow, or… or red hood or something! Why is it always Batman symbol shirts and robin sneakers, and, and _Nightwing pajamas_!" Jason questioned, tossing his hands into the air.

Kim smiled, shrugging, "I think it's cute, and do you really want her idolizing Green Arrow? Do you wanna be the one listening to her go on and on about what the arrow family has been doing on the news?"

Jason paused, then sighed. "Fine. But seriously, why doesn't she have Red Hood stuff too? Why is it only the others?"

Kim smirked, "Tell you what, I'll try to find something Red Hood for her to wear, okay?"

Jason nodded, "Fine."

Kim finally found the Harper's address, scribbling it down on her left wrist. Jason had always been fascinated by her habit of writing notes on her wrist. It was one of the things that had intrigued him about her when they were younger. Most girls wouldn't want their 'pretty skin' to get smudged, but Kim didn't seem to care about her looks. Another thing that attracted him was her humbleness. She was pretty, but didn't care. She was strong, but didn't flaunt it. She was smart, but didn't acknowledge it. She was one of the nicest girls he had known, but she still didn't realize her own perfections.

He didn't think she was perfect, quite the opposite. He knew her flaws now. She wasn't a detective, hardly ever thinking about the big scene, Blue Jay had always busted whatever criminal she came across. She didn't know how to hunt someone down, just how to take them out. She wasn't very fast, but tried to make up for it with strength and timing. She did.

Jason shook his head, "Why do you even care about apologizing to this kids Mom?"

Kim paused, closing the book slowly. "I don't have any friends here Jason."

Jason paused, taking this in. He played poker with his friends every Wednesday night, and he hadn't even asked Kim about her friends. Now he realized, she didn't have any.

"If this Kyler girl's dad is Red Arrow, than her mom… might understand what it's like. Maybe… maybe I could have a friend." Kim said hopefully.

Jason nodded slowly, "Why haven't you tried hanging out with some of the other women we met at the BBQ?"

"I did." Kim snapped. "All of them are stuck up, always talking about either their kids, clothes, make up, or The Real House Wives of New Jersey! They're such… such girls!"

Jason wanted to laugh, but he didn't. Kim continued, "I can't hang out with my old friends anymore, they're off being heroes while I'm stuck here, just being a mom!"

Jason bit his lip, "Kim, I'm so sorry that marrying me ruined your life."

Kim shook her head, "No Jason, you're not the one who ruined my life, I'd marry you no matter what. It's Bruce! That little jerks has me paranoid to the point where I can't leave my daughter at home with a neighborhood babysitter or at a daycare!"

"Hey, when she turns five, then you can leave her with a babysitter, I promise. I'll show her how to get away from Bruce, or any other kidnapped, and then I'll feel better about it." Jason promised. "Dick can take off time from his job whenever he wants, so maybe this weekend, you can get out of the house, maybe ask this Mrs. Harper lady to go see a movie with you."

Kim nodded, "Okay."

Jason smiled, leaning over to peck her on the cheek, "Bed time?"

"Shower first." Kim reminded him, pointing down at his grease covered shirt and pants.

"Big enough for two?" Jason asked, hopeful.

"Not tonight." Kim shot down.

"Oh piss!" Jason complained.

"Oh piss?" Came a tiny little tired voice form the doorway. Jaosn turned around to see his daughter, dressed in her Nightwing pajamas, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, "Daddy, why you oh piss?"

Jason grunted, letting his face fall down into his hands, and Justin turned to Kim, "Mommy, daddy is oh piss."

Kim glared at Jason, who looked up at her, rubbing his eyes, "I'm sorry."

Kim nodded, "You better be."

The back glass door suddenly opened, and Russell walked in, holding a brown box, and smiling at the family, "Hey Todd, guess what?"

Justin spoke up quickly, "Not now Mr. Russell, Daddy oh piss."

Russell nearly dropped the box he was holding, "What did you say?"

"Are you oh piss too?" Justin asked.

Russell looked over at Jason, "Uh yeah… I'm just gonna leave this here."

He quickly set the box down on the counter heading for the door, but Justin managed to squeeze in one last, "Daddy's oh piss!" Before the thoroughly shaken man managed to run out the back door and hop the fence into his yard.

Jason frowned, "How did he get into my house?"


	11. Harper And Todd

"I don't wanna go to sleep Daddy." Justin protested.

Jason sighed, after Kim had chewed him out, he had finally been able to slip away to tuck in his daughter, "Justy, it's bedtime."

"No!" She snapped.

"I know you're tired." He argued.

"No!No!No!" She said, speeding through the words, making it sound like one word.

"Yes, yes, yes." Jason said back, scooping his daughter up off her bedroom floor and setting the squirming toddler down in her bed. Jason mentally smacked himself, why does she have Red Robin bed sheets? "Honey, when did you get these sheets?"

"Mommy get them at Good Will!" Justin said, a grin spreading over her face. "Red Robin is cool."

"No he's not." Jason debated, "I could kick his butt any day."

"Really?" The girl asked, staring up at her father in childhood wonder. Could her father really be able to beat up Red Robin?

"Yes. Now go to sleep." He ordered, pulling back the Red Robin sheets and stuffing her under them.

"Don't wanna!" She screamed, kicking her way out of them.

"Fine." He said, standing up and walking over to the far wall, taking a book Kim had left there off the shelf, skimming over the title page hastily. "Than I guess we'll just sit here and read all night long."

"Read?" Justin asked.

Jason nodded, "You'll learn to do it one day."

He sat on the bed next to her, pushing the blankets back over her, glaring at her when she started to wiggle out form under them again. She sighed, settling down under the covers, curious as to the story.

"My last name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." Jason red aloud, then paused, maybe this wasn't such a good book for him to read to his daughter.

Justine grunted, telling him to keep going.

"In newspaper photos of missing girls from the 70's, most looked like me: white girls with mousy brown hair. This was before kids of all races and genders started appearing on milk cartons or in the daily mail. It was back when people believed things like that didn't happen." Jason figured she couldn't understand, so what was the harm?

Justin was asleep before the girl in the story even met Mr. Harvey in the cornfield. Thank God.

He was really going to have to talk to Kim about the literature content of this household.

**THE NEXT DAY:**

"I don't wanna!" Justin protested as her mother practically dragged her down the street.

"We're going to their house and you're going to say you're sorry to that little girl." Kim snapped.

"She started it!" Justin protested.

"And I'm ending it." Kim said with finality. "Not you can either apologize to her now, or you can go without desert for two weeks, _and _no bread rolls."

Justin contemplated this. "Can I whack her after I say sorry?"

"No!"

"Oh fine." Justin grumbled.

Kim walked up the house sidewalk with Justin in tow, a small tin of cookies in her hand. She rang the doorbell with some difficulty, and a beautiful woman with brown hair and brown eyes opened the door. She smiled at Kim, "Can I help you with something?"

Kim smiled back, "Hi. I found out you were new to the neighborhood, and since my daughter met yours yesterday, under unfortunate circumstances, so I thought I should come over, if only to apologize."

The woman looked a little taken back, looking down to her right, "Kyler, do you know them?"

A little head of brown curls popped out from behind the woman's leg, and Justin's eyes narrowed.

The little girl, Kyler, grunted, "Yes! That's the girl that hurt me yesterday!"

Justin frowned, "You're the one that wouldn't shut up."

"Justin." Kim said, warning her.

Justin grunted, crossing her arms and glaring at her shoes.

"Justine Todd!" Kim snapped.

Justin looked up at Kyler, "I'm sorry." She said quickly, rushing the two words out.

As soon as the two words left her mouth, Justin saw Kyler's shirt. Dark yellow with a picture of a man in a green costume with a bow and arrow on the front. She pointed at Kyler's shirt, "Who's that?"

Kyler looked down at her shirt, then back up at Justin, "Green Arrow. He's the super hero of Star City."

Justin's face lit up, and she grabbed the edge of her shirt, puling it out so Kyler could see it better, "This is Nightwing! He's the super hero of Bludhaven!"

"You like super hero's too?" Kyler questioned, timid with this statement. Did she actually have something in common with this playground bully?

Justin nodded, "I've got a Nightwing doll at home! Wanna see it?"

Kyler smiled, "Sure! Wanna see my Red Arrow doll?"

"Who's he?" Justin asked.

Before Kyler's mom could intervene, Kyler blurted out of excitement, "My dad! He works with Green Arrow!"

Wow!" Justin exclaimed, while Kyler's mother looked at Kim with nervousness in her eyes, "Your Dad's a super hero? That's awesome!"

"I've got Speedy posters too-"

"Where?" Justin interrupted.

"In my room-"

"Let's go see!" Justin said, grabbing Kyler's hand and running into the house.

Kim smiled a the woman, "Hi, I'm Kimberly Todd, you can call me Kim."

The woman looked even more nervous, "My daughter didn't mean the whole Red Arrow thing."

"Don't worry, I know everything about it." Kim assured.

The woman looked shocked, "You do?"

Kim nodded, "My husband and yours share a certain career."

The woman smiled, "I'm Anna Harper, come on in."

Kim and Anna walked into Anna's living room, and were soon laughing, eating coffee and cookies, talking about their husbands.

"He had to practically crawl through the backdoor to get inside!" Anna exclaimed, finishing her story of how Roy had gotten two broken legs from a simple teenager gang.

Kim laughed, "Haha, in my cape days, I barely cared about the teenager gangs, I was always focused on the drug trade."

Anna looked surprised, "You were a hero?"

Kim nodded, "Blue Jay. Were you?"

"Nope." Anna said, "Just a civilian."

Kim smiled, "Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't become Blue Jay. I always think it would have been better if I had just left the work to Batman."

Anna nodded, "I mind my own business, try not to get hooked up in the hero life."

Justin and Kyler suddenly rushed out of Kyler's room, "Mom, can Kyler come over to our house for lunch?"

Kim smiled, turning to Anna, "If you say it's okay, you could come over too."

Anna smiled back, "Sounds delightful."

Justin practically dragged Kyler down the street by her wrist, and by this time Kyler had started to question her choice of friend.

IN JUSTIN'S ROOM:

"And this is my Nightwing doll." She said, showing Kyler her doll happily.

"How does he fight?" Kyler asked.

"Daddy says he uses stupid glorified chopsticks." Justin explained.

"I've never heard of that weapon." Kyler mused.

"You really like hero's, huh?" Justin asked.

Kyler nodded, "I wanna be Speedy when I grow up!"

"Who's Speedy?"

"That's who my dad used to be before he was Red Arrow." Kyler explained. "Do you wanna be one?"

Justin beamed, "Yeah!"

"Who do you wanna be?" Kyler asked. "Are you gonna make your own?"

Justin shrugged, "I don't know."

"Girl's!" Kim called, "Pizza for lunch!"

Justin and Kyler rushed to the table, chorusing, "Is it plain cheese?"

Both mothers answered, "Or course."

And so began both girl's first friendship.


	12. Happy Birthday

Justin smiled with glee as a slick dark blue Mclaren F1 pulled into the driveway.

She squealed, rushing out into the front yard, "Uncle Dick!"

Dick stepped out of his car, scooping up the little girl, "Hey kiddo!"

He hugged her tightly, then smiled at her, "So, how's it feel to be two years old?"

She beamed at him, "Great!"

He chuckled, shaking his head, "You sure you're only two?"

Justin was way to smart for her age, it truly amazed Dick how she could carry on a conversation with someone the way she did.

She gave him a sarcastic look, "No, I'm thirty-two."

He sighed, "Yep, you're Jason's kid."

He put Justin down, as a red motorcycle pulled into the driveway, and Justin rushed over to great Tim. "Uncle Tim!"

He smiled, pulling the little girl up onto the motorcycle with him, "Hey Justin."

He pulled a small package wrapped in pink paper and ribbons out from the side pouch, handing it to her, "Happy birthday!"

She giggled, trying to peel off the ribbons.

Kim suddenly appeared, taking the present, "Justin, you know the rules, presents come after the cake."

Just sighed, "Okay Mom."

Tim chuckled, shaking his head, then turned to Kim, "You hear anything from Bruce?"

She shook her head, "I want nothing to do with him, but I asked Alfred to come. Alfred said he would, Alfred always comes to birthdays."

Tim rolled his eyes, "Of course he will, he's Alfred, but does Jason know?"

"Yes Tim." Kim said, rolling her eyes, "Now how about you stop acting like you're my big brother? That's Dick's job."

Justin suddenly piped up, "Mommy, how come every time I say Uncle Dick's name, Mr. Russell Laughs?"

"Who?" Tim inquired.

Kim blushed, "Next door neighbor." She turned to Justine, "I'll tell you when you're older."

"Or you'll just find out on your own when you get to elementary school." Tim pitched in, and Kim glared at him, "What? The kids in elementary school know to much."

Jason came out of the house, and Justine wiggled down from the motorcycle, rushing to her daddy. He scooped her up, smiling, "What's up? Said the elevator."

Justine giggled, "Just staying cool. Said the swimming pool."

Dick raised his eyebrow, and Jason shrugged, "She was watching Blues Clues."

Tim scoffed, walking over and chimed in, "You know that Steve guy is a pedophile right?"

Justine looked at Jason, "Daddy, what's a pedophile?"

Jason glared at Tim, "Thanks a lot replacement."

"Daddy what's a replacement?" Justine asked.

Jason grinned, "Uncle Timmy is a replacement sweetie, because he's a cheap copy that was brought in because I died."

Justine was silent for a moment, before shrugging, "Okay Daddy."

Kim sighed, "Come on guys, we've got the cake inside."

Jason growled, "Yeah, the worst cake ever."

Tim and Dick shared a look, before following the couple inside and into the kitchen. Kim brought the cake out of the fridge, setting it down in front of Justine, and removing the lid of the cake box.

Everyone was silent, until Tim busted out laughing, holding his sides. Dick snickered, "You got her a Batman and Robin cake?"

Jason glared at the cake, showing Batman and Robin back to back, facing a dozen Gotham thugs with knives. Dick shook his head, "How did you even get such a detailed picture?"

Kim smirked, "Alfred."

Jason growled, "That old man betrayed me."

Kim sighed, putting two candles on the cake and lighting them, "Blow out the candles and make a wish baby."

Justin thought for a minute, before blowing the candles out.

Dick raised his eyebrow, "What'd you wish for Justin?"

She beamed at him, "I wanna meet Nightwing one day!"

Dick just had to laugh at the irony, and Jason held his head in shame, "Why is it always Nightwing? Robin I could handle, but why Nightwing?"

Dick rolled his eyes, "Jason, just-"

"She sleeps with you!" Jason shouted, "She sleeps with you every night!"

An awkward silence settled over them, until Kim sighed, "I got Justine a stuffed Nightwing doll for Christmas last year."

Tim could barely contain his laughter, he might not like Jason, but Justine sure kept everything interesting.

Half an hour later the cake was eaten, and Justine sat in front of a pile of about five presents, looking at them curiously.

Dick smiled, point to the only blue present, "Oh, open mine first!"

Justine picked up the present, and tore off the wrapping paper, pulling up a picture book, titled, Batman and Robin: The Dynamic Duo.

She jumped up, running over to Jason, "Daddy! Read to me! Read to me!"

"Not now." Jason said, "Open your other stuff."

Justin practically deflated, walking over to the pink present Tim had brought. She tried to pull off the ribbons, but just got her fingers tangled until Tim had to cut them loose, then open the present for her. It was a Barbie doll, all dressed up in a pink ball gown, with blonde hair and green eyes, and it came with about two other outfits, which were both very pretty and sparkly.

Justin looked up at her Dad, "Daddy, what's this?"

Jason's face lit up, and Tim knew he was going to say something completely inappropriate. "That Justy, is Tim's ex-girlfriend, and the only on he'll ever get."

Tim groaned, "Don't listen to him Justy, it's called a Barbie doll, you play with it, like you do your Nightwing doll."

Justin shrugged, picking up an awkwardly wrapped present with red paper, and tearing it open. Inside was a bright red water gun, with the red hood's helmet airbrushed onto it, and Red Hood written beneath the helmet.

Everyone turned to Jason, glaring at him.

"What?" Jason asked innocently, "Oh, so it's okay for her to sleep with a Nightwing doll, but she can't have a water gun?"

Tim wasn't fazed, "You're teaching her that guns are okay to play with."

"They are!" Jason defended.

Kim whacked him upside the head, "Jason!"

"I meant water guns!"

"Yeah, whatever."

Justin picked up the next present, wrapped in white paper, and tore it open. It was a small, stuffed brown dog. "Thank you Mommy!"

"How do you know it's from her?" Dick asked.

"Cause I asked her for a puppy, yesterday." Justin said, hugging the small stuffed toy.

Tim smiled, turning to Kim, "Are you sure she's only two?"

Kim rolled her eyes, "I know, I know. She act's like she's three, doesn't she?"

"Or older." Tim agreed. "She'll be a smart kid."

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, and Justin jumped up, "I'll geddit!"

She took off for the front door, leaving the adults in the living room. Justin flung open the front door, staring up at a very tall man with black hair and blue eyes, holding a big box, wrapped in black and white wrapping paper. "Hi!" She said, smiling.

He looked down at her, and gave an awkward smile, as if it hurt him to smile. He knelt down in front of her, "Are you Justine?" He whispered.

She nodded, "Sometimes, other times I'm Justy, and other times other than that, I'm Justin."

He paused for a moment, before handing her the box, and put a finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet. "Happy birthday."

She smiled as he stood up, and walked away. She slammed the door shut, and waddled back into the living room, toting the huge box.

Jason raised his eyebrow, "What's that?"

"My present from the big man." Justin said, sitting down in front of everyone and slapping the present down in front of her.

"Christmas isn't for four months Justin." Dick said, smiling.

"Not that man!" Justin said, "The man at the door, in the black sweater."

Tim raised an eyebrow, "A man at the door? What's his name?"

Justin just shrugged, "I don't know."

She ripped into the present, revealing a cardboard box, airbrushed to look like a metal case. She undid the latches on it, and it fell open, revealing latex gloves, a magnifying glass, finger print powder, stencils, several bags labeled CSI evidence bags, goggles, magnifying glass, five slides, evidence logs, test tubes, evidence markers, a book of charts, fingerprint cards, situation cards, a plaster frame, an evidence journal and two bags of plaster.

Everyone was silent, until Justin looked up at her father, "What's all this stuff?"

Jason grabbed the box, shoving everything back into it, and stalked off to the hall closet, putting it at the top, and shutting the door, "Nothing Justy, just forget about it. Do you want your cake now?"

Justine nodded, and the box was forgotten, and Jason hoped it would stay that way. Who did Bruce think he was?


	13. A True Russian Greeting

Sometimes Kim worried about Justin. Justin was only two, but she talked much older. Sometimes Kim wondered if Justin knew what she was saying, knew what it meant. Sometimes Kim wondered if Justin understood everything they thought she did. Justin liked talking, Justin liked being by herself a lot too.

She used to just stay inside the house, and play with her plushie dolls, but that changed after Kyler had moved to town. Now, Justin liked to go outside, in the back yard, and play with her Tonka trucks.

Mr. Russell and his wife Mrs. Beth had four cats, the cutest cats Kim had ever seen. Since they lived right next door, they would often scale the fence and come into their back yard.

The first time it happened, Justy had been sitting in a particular part of the yard, the far left corner, under their oak tree. It was her favorite spot, because their was a hole in the tree trunk that Justy could muscle her way into, and sit there, playing with whatever toys she had brought.

Mrs. Beth's youngest cat, Sty, had scaled the fence, and wandered around the yard. Sty was the most adorable cat Beth had, she was a pretty orange color, with yellow paws. Justin was fascinated with it, watching it from her little cubby hole as it swatted at butterflies, and rolled around in the sun. Eventually, the cat saw her sitting there and wandered over.

Justin had sat very still, waiting for it to get closer. Sty climbed onto the toddler's lap, sniffing her face, and Justy just sat incredibly still. Kim had been watching from the doorway, amazed her daughter wasn't moving or scaring the cat.

Justy just waited until the cat was done sniffing her, and had carefully pet it's back.

As soon as the cute moment started, it ended. Why did it end? Because the Todd in Justin came out.

Justy grabbed the cat's tail, slinging it over her shoulder and started to tote the poor kitty toward the house like a sack. Sty freaked out, clawing up Justin's shoulders and her head, scratching her face all up. Justy let Sty go, and the cat made a bee line for Mrs. Beth's yard.

Kim ran outside, "Justin!"

Justin just stood there, mouth agape at the retreating cat. She didn't even say one word as Kim took her inside and put Neosporin and bandages on her arms and face. "Justin, are you okay honey?"

Justin examined the various colored bandages up and down her arms, "I didn't think…"

"Didn't think what?" Kim asked.

"It was so fluffy… how is something that fluffy that mean?" Justin pondered.

Kim smiled, shaking her head, "That's one of life's greatest mysteries sweet pea."

As soon as Jason got home, Justy rushed to the door, holding up her bandaged arms, "Daddy!"

"AH!" Jason screamed, stumbling back, staring at his daughter, "What happened to your arms?"

"Kitty!" She said, bouncing up and down excitedly.

"I'm now officially a dog person." Jason mumbled.

"Not even for your birthday Jason." Kim shot down, hearing the underlying tone.

Jason sighed, "Well, it was a good try at least."

Kim rolled her eyes, "Alright Jason, guess who gets to put her to bed?"

Jason sighed, "I'm guessing me."

"I don't wanna go to bed!" Justin said, plopping herself down on the floor in a huff. Justin never wanted to go to sleep. If Kim had to guess, she would say it was the bat in her. Jason didn't seem to like that idea.

Jason picked Justin up, dragging her to bed, she was fighting him about it tooth and nail. Literally, kid was a biter, and that cat had taught her that claws were lethal.

Finally, Jason had wrestled her into bed, and tired her out with a tickle fight, leaving her tired enough to fall asleep after he read her a poem from a Mother Goose story book Kim had picked up for her.

He had opted against the one about the kittens with mittens tonight, settling for one about some rascal named Georgey who went around kissing girls on the playground, making them cry. He always ran away before the other boys came out to play, so they wouldn't beat him up for making all those girls cry.

As soon as she was asleep, Jason went to bed with Kim.

Only to be woken up three hours later by the sound of voices.

"Who are you?" He heard Justin's voice ask.

He had jumped out of bed, and dashed down the hall before he even heard whoever was in that room's response.

He flung the door open, seeing a figure of a woman in the moonlight, her dark hair cascading over her shoulders. Justin was sitting up in bed, smiling at the woman. Jason knows this woman, he might owe her a lot, but that doesn't mean she can come her, it doesn't mean she's welcome here.

"Talia!" Jason hissed.

She looked over her shoulder at him, frowning, "Just a moment, the child and I were speaking."

She turned around to continue talking to Justine, but Jason grabbed her arm, dragging her out of the room, leaving a curious Justin on her bed.

Once their in the hall, Jason's glaring at her, and she's glaring right back. "What are you doing here?"

"We had a deal." Talia explained, "I taught you, trained you, gave you everything you needed, and you drop your end of the bargain the first sign of trouble."

"Yeah, well I had a kid." Jason snarled. "What would you have done?"

"Nothing." Talia said. "I would have been there when my lover gave birth, and immediately returned to fighting crime if I was you. You didn't."

"I'm not going back to Gotham." Jason snaps.

"Yes you are." Talia said, crossing her arms. "If you try to refuse, I'll kill your daughter."

Jason growled, "You can _try_."

"Don't be stupid Jason." Talia snapped. "You can't guard her forever, whether it takes five weeks, or five years, eventually, I'll get her. And when I do, I'll see if I can spare you a little piece of your daughter to bury. A finger perhaps."

Jason paused, he knew she was right, She had him, she had him by the neck. "I can't go back to Gotham. Not now, probably not for years."

She nods, "I am willing to make a compromise. If you choose to never be the Red Hood again, I can accept that, however, you have to train someone else for your place."

Jason rolled his eyes, "Where am I gonna find someone to do that?"

Talia nods to Justin's bedroom door, and Jason hardens, "If she wants to, I'll teach her. When she's old enough to know what she wants."

"And what age might that be?"

"Twelve, thirteen, I don't know." Jason snapped.

"Not soon enough." She said, shaking her head. "I will offer you something else, I'll send you someone to teach."

"Send me someone?"

"A boy, I have a particular one in mind." Talia said, "He is already trained, basically. You, you will teach him more. Teach him to be Red Hood."

Jason paused, he could go back to Gotham, but then Justin is in harm's way. He could try to run, but Talia would catch him, he knew this.

"Fine."

Talia nodded, "Good. I will send him soon." She turns to leave, but then looks over her shoulder, "I'd keep an eye on that child if I were you Jason, she's just got that odd look in her eye…"

"What are you saying?" Jason snapped. He's tired of this, he just wants her to leave. He wants to go back to being a normal American Dad with a wife and a little baby girl.

"I'm saying, don't put any slack on her leash, she'll run with it." Talia advised, "Much like you."

Then she was gone, and Jason was faced with telling Kim about this in the morning, and getting Justin to fall asleep again.


	14. Snake

When Jason answered the door, he wasn't really sure what to expect, but it sure wasn't the thirteen year old boy who stared up at him. "Are you Jason Todd?"

Jason frowned, seeing several scars and burns littering the boys arms, and frowned, "You must be the kid Talia sent, right?"

"Yeah, and if you care, my name is Jay."

He was going to have a long talk with Talia later. Kim walked up beside him, holding Justine, "Oh, hi. Are you hungry?"

Jay's eyes scanned over her, then to the baby in her arms. "That is the ugliest baby I have ever seen in my entire life."

No one spoke, Jason was fuming, but Kim was a bit amused. Justine looked this new boy over, before a grin spread across her lips. "Gimme! Gimme!" She commanded, trying to reach for the boy. She wanted him to hold her.

Jay looked at Kim, "What is she doing?"

Kim smiled, "She likes you, come on in."

Jay walked in after Kim, still staring at Justine. While Kim talked to him, Justine got bored of trying to get her mother to hand her to Jay. She wiggled in her mothers arms, until Kim put her down. Justine made a mad grab for Jay's leg, but Jason's arms shot out and grabbed her, scooping her up with a smirk on his face, "Say Justy, how's about me and you go spit at Mrs. Russell's cats?"

Justin gave this some thought, before shaking her head. "No." She turned around in her father's arms, looking at Jay. She reached out towards him, "Gimme!"

Kim rolled her eyes, "Oh, just let the boy hold her Jason."

Kim took Justine from Jason, holding her out to Jay. Jay paused for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't know how."

Kim just smiled, showing Jay how to position his arms, before placing Justine in them. Jay and Justin looked at each other for a moment, before Justin wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her head on his shoulder. Jason gritted his looked up at Kim, "What is she doing?"

Kim just laughed, "She's hugging you."

"Why?" Jay asked, completely out of his comfort zone.

Kim shrugged, "She likes you."

Justin suddenly shot straight up in Jay's arms, throwing her hands into the air, "JAY!"

"She likes your name too." Kim added.

Justin pulled back from Jay, smiling at him. Jay was at a complete loss. Is this just how kids act? He never really got a chance to do that…

Justin wiggled in his arms, and Jay carefully set her down. Justin immediately grabbed a hold of his finger, trying to pull him to the back door, "Come outside!"

Kim smiled as Jay slowly followed Justin, a bit amused and a bit concerned at how timid the boy was, "Well he seems nice."

Jason rolled his eyes, "Kim, he's a trained killer, and for some reason I can't fathom, he's outside, alone, with my daughter."

Kim frowned, "I could have thought the same thing about you when you came back Jason."

Jason frowned right back, "You did."

"And I was wrong, and right now, you are too."

Jason grunted, "I'll believe that, probably never."

**OUTSIDE WITH JUSTIN AND JAY:**

Justin was happy to lead Jay all around the yard, and show him something she had never shown anybody before. In her special corner of the yard, behind her tree, wedged in-between the planks of wood was this weird hole in the ground, that had just showed up last week. She knew if she showed her mom or her dad then they would bury the hole, so she never told them.

She pointed down at the hole, and Jay looked at her, "You dug a hole?"

She shook her head, "Not me. Somebody else."

"Who?"

"I dunno." She said, shrugging.

Jay frowned, and Justin picked up a rock, aiming at the hole, "Watch this!"

She tossed the rock down into the hole, and there was a small rattle sound. Before Justin could ask what it was, Jay stuck his arm out in front of her, and a snake leapt out of the hole, locking it's jaws right onto Jay's arm. Jay grabbed it's neck, yanking it off. Blood trickled down his arm, dripping onto Justin's neck.

Justin freaked out, screaming, running away towards the house, "DADDY!"

Jason and Kim immediately dashed outside for Justin. Jason reached her first, scooping her up, and saw the blood. He immediately handed her to Kim, dashing for Jay. He grabbed the boy by his shirt collar, and saw the snake in his hand. _He made a snake bite my daughter!?_

Jason drove his fist into the boy's stomach several times, "YOU DON'T TOUCH HER!"

Jay didn't even move. Years of experience had taught him that if it's punishment, you don't hit back. You take it, and hope it's over soon.

"JASON!" Kim screamed, "IT WASN'T HER BLOOD, STOP IT!"

Jason paused, looking over his shoulder at Kim, seeing Justin's neck. Kim had wiped the blood away, there was no mark underneath. Jason's gaze drifted to the boy's arm, there was a snake bite that had been ripped open. Jay had gotten bit by the snake, and ripped it out. The blood had somehow gotten onto Justine.

Jay trembled, holding his gut, Jason had hit him to hard.

"I'm sorry." Jason mumbled. Jay hadn't done anything wrong.

After Kim had rushed to Jay's side and made sure nothing was broken, she smacked Jason right across his face, "JASON PETER TODD, YOU DON'T EVER HIT HIM AGAIN!"

Jason just nodded, feeling the guilt sink in.

Justin grabbed onto Jay's leg, sobbing into his knee cap, she didn't know what was going on, or why every was yelling, she just knew that Mommy and Daddy weren't happy, and Jay wasn't yelling like they were.

Jay carefully picked her up, walking with her into the house while Kim really let Jason have it.

He sat on the floor in her room with her until she calmed down, wondering how such a little person could scream so loud, or cling onto him so tight. Jay didn't know whether it was a weak moment, or the fact that this little girl being so distraught brought out this protective feeling in him, but either way, he decided to open his mouth and say, "Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing bad happens to you."

She looked up at him, and her tears stopped. She tried to smile at him, and he smiled right back. If his father were here… he'd be in deep trouble for that display of emotion.


	15. Peaches

Jay woke up to the sound of a little girl crying. He sat bolt right up, forgetting where he was for a moment, until he remembered, Talia had sent him here, and Kim had set him up in their guest bedroom. The crying was probably Justin. He slid out of bed, tiptoeing down the hall to Justin's room, and peered in the doorway, to see Jason already standing there, picking up Justin and rocking her back and forth in his arms.

He started to hum, and then he started singing the weirdest song Jay had ever heard. "Gonna go down to Georgia, gonna eat a lot of peaches. Gonna go down to Georgia, gonna eat a lot of peaches."

Jason's voice got a little faster, "Peaches come from a can, they were put there by a man, in in factory down town."

Jay cocked his head to the side, puzzled. Did Jason just make this song up, or is this just a common American song? His father had never sung anything like this before. Jay's father had never sung anything, as far as Jay knew.

"If I had my own say, I'd eat peaches every day, in the sun or in the ra-ain." Jason finished, and set Justin back down in her crib, she had fallen asleep.

"Jay, when I turn around, we're both going to pretend that this never happened, agreed?" Jason said, without looking up at Jay.

"Agreed." Jay wasn't even sure he wanted to remember such a disturbing sight.

Jason stood up straight, looking over at Jay in the doorway, "Good, now get back to bed, we've got to go to Gotham tomorrow."

Jay nodded, "Can I ask why?"

"Have to see some friends." Jason said, walking past Jay and heading to his and Kim's room. "I think they'll like you."

**NEXT MORNING:**

When Kim had called him down for breakfast, Jay hadn't expected Justin would be sitting in such a weird chair. It was much higher off the ground than his, and it had a plate going across the middle, like a separate table.

Kim walked past him, setting a handful of cheerios onto Justin's highchair. "Eat up baby, daddy's taking you to see Uncle Dick today."

Jay stared at Justin as she picked up cheerios in her tiny fists, shoving them into her mouth. "Won't she choke?"

Kim smiled, settling a plate of waffles in front of Jay, "No, she's good at eating, not picky at all."

"Picky?"

"She'll eat anything you set in front of her, vegetables, fruit, meat, bread, cereal, she's not a pick eater." Kim explained, "Most babies don't eat that good. They'll refuse to eat vegetables, and you'd have to give them only the things they want."

Jay frowned, "That's ridiculous, vegetables are necessary for bone density, and provide necessary minerals and other nutrients. Refusing to eat them is unhealthy."

Jason walked in, "Yeah, yeah Captain Kangaroo." Kim set a plate of waffles in front of Jason, "Keep preaching about all that."

Kim rolled her eyes, "Alright Mr. Junk Food, I know you and dick aren't going to eat anything but pizza for lunch, so dinner is going to be meatloaf-"

"Yes!" Jason said, remembering how good Kim's meatloaf was.

"With broccoli, carrots, and rice."

"No!" Jason whined, "I don't wanna eat vegetables Kim, they taste gross!"

Kim sighed, "Well, at least Justin didn't take after you in the eating department."

Jason shrugged, "She's a weird kid, she eats broccoli willingly."

Kim frowned, sitting down herself with a plate of waffles. "Jason, you're impossible."

"I try."

Jay had never met people who acted to… weird. A cheerio his the side of his face, and he looked over at Justin, who was smirking at him, laughing.

Kim frowned, "No, Justin, we don't throw things at people."

"Unless it's a Batarang, and you're aiming at either the scum of the world, Tim, or Dick." Jason prompted.

Kim glared at Jason, "Yeah Jason, you have absolutely no plans for her to join the hero community, do you?"

Jason was silent for the rest of breakfast.

Getting to Gotham City took awhile, they had all piled into Kim's car, with Jason behind the wheel, Kim in shotgun, and Jay in the back with Justin. Kim had brought snacks in a little bag, and a few toys and books for Justin. Jay watched her make her two finger puppets, a dog and a little boy, kill each other, before he stepped in and took them from her, putting them on his own fingers.

Justin just stared at them, and Jay made them wiggling on his fingers, "Don't kill us Justin, we love you!" He tapped his fingers to her face, making the puppets kiss her cheeks, and she squealed in happiness, kicking her feet.

Jay slipped another puppet onto his fingers, a lion. "Roar!"

"Oh no! It's the kind of the beasts! And he looks _hungry_!" Jay made the boy puppet say.

"No!" Justin said, "Run away!"

Jay made the little boy and the cat run up Justin's arm to get to safety, and made the lion stand on her knee. "Come down here so I can eat you up!"

"No!" Justin protested.

"But I'm _hungry_!" The lion roared.

Justin grabbed the goldfish she had been snacking on, handing them to the lion, "There you go!"

The lion gobbled up the goldfish out of Justin's hand, "Yummy! These taste a lot better than people and dogs!"

Justin giggled, "Yay!" This was so much more fun for her than making her finger puppets fight.

She handed her goldfish to Jay, and he gobbled them up, snorting and wiggling his nose like a pig.

"Ew!" Justin squealed, covering her eyes and shaking her head back and forth. "Jay's a piggy!"

The whole car ride lasted like that, jay making her laugh by playing with her, or reading some of those books Kim had brought along.

Once they finally got there, Jason had lead them all to a really nice looking apartment, and then up to the penthouse. A man was there, black hair, blue eyes, and he smiled. A lot.

"Justy!" The man squealed, grabbing her from Kim, and twirling her around, "Uncle Dick missed you so much!"

Justy looked petrified, she obviously did not like it when Uncle Dick got hyper. Another boy, a little older then Jay, walked into the room. "Hey Kim, what's up?"

Kim shrugged, "Well Tim, Justy really likes Jay."

Tim turned to Jay, "Nice to meet you, Kim told me everything over the phone."

Jay nodded, "Nice to meet you too."

Dick smiled at him, "How old are you?"

"Thirteen."

"Wanna spar?" Dick asked.

Jay paused, "Sure."

They all piled into the training room, and Dick stood on the mat, smiling, "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

Jay looked over his shoulder at Kim, "Can you take Justin out of the room?"

Kim nodded, puzzled, and walked away with Justin.

Jay turned back to Dick, "Why do you want her-"

Jay's fist collided with Dick's face, then his foot with Dick's crotch. Dick doubled over, and jay kneed him in the face. Dick fell with a thud.

Everything was silent, until someone giggled. Jay and Tim looked at Jason, who was holding his stomach, trying not to laugh, and failing.

"Two seconds!" Jason laughed, "All it took, ha, ha, ha, was two seconds!"

Tim walked over to Dick's unconscious form, "He's alright, just knocked out."

Jason couldn't stop laughing. He was starting to like this kid.

* * *

><p><strong>JAY IS NOT MINE!<strong>

Jay was thought of, characterized, and created by my friend Red X17, and credit for Jay goes to him. He thought up Jay just for my stories, and he couldn't have do a better job. So you guys need to look him up, and send him a thank you PM, becaus ehe and I have LITERALLY sent over two hundred message to each other about Jay. He deserves a thank you.

Oh, and that peaches song, it exists. My dad sings it whenever it comes on the radio, it's funny.


	16. Because She Deserves Someone

Since Roy and Anna had moved into the neighborhood, there had to be another 'Welcome to the Neighborhood' BBQ block party. Kim was worried about how Jay would fit in, but he seemed to be incredibly calm with the entire thing. Jason was driving them to David's house, while Kim was in shot gun, looking over her shoulder at Jay and Justin in the back seat.

Jay had been with them a week already, and if he wasn't training, eating, or sleeping, he was spending time with Justine. Playing with her, reading to her, watching TV with her, harassing Mrs. Beth's cats with her, and overall just being the ideal big brother figure in her life.

Jason had spoke to Dick, who spoke to Barbara, about adoption papers for Jay. Nothing real, just enough paperwork so that the government wouldn't be suspicious, and that he could go to school next month. Kim wanted to give him plenty of time to adjust. Jason had also gotten enough paper work to convince anyone who asked that Kim had been a Marine, and Jason had been in the Navy. Army jobs like those would cover any questions if people wondered why Jason and Kim were in such great shape, or why Jason had so many guns, not that anyone ever saw them.

Jason parked the car, getting out, "Alright, remember, don't talk about guns, knives, fighting, or anything assassin related, okay?"

Jay nodded, having been drilled on this several times. "Now, what's your name?"

"My old name was Jay Francis Weaver, but since you adopted me, my name is Jay Todd. I don't have a middle name anymore, for personal reasons. My father died in a car crash, my mother died form breast cancer, and I don't like talking about it. My favorite sport is Basket ball, and I don't like tennis. I'm thirteen years old, and I'm in the eight grade. I'm not going to school right now because we've had trouble with paperwork, but I'll start next month." Jay recited.

Jason nodded, "Good, let's go."

They walked through David's house, into his back yard, being greeted by David's wife Jenny, "Hi Kim! How's Justine been doing? Oh, and who's this?"

Kim smiled, Jenny was a nice woman, but a bit boring all she really did was raise children. Once her kids got to old for pampering from their mother, she was going to be heart broken. "Justine's fine, she's got another ear infection though. And this is Jay, we adopted him a few days ago."

Jenny smiled at Jay, "Well, welcome to the neighborhood!"

Jay smiled at her, "Nice to meet you Ma'am."

Jenny turned to look across the yard, "Matthew!"

One of the teenage boys looked up, running over, "Yes ma'am?"

Jenny introduced him quickly, "Matthew, this is Jay, he's new here. Why don't uou introduce him to the other kids?"

"Okay Mom." Matthew said, then turned to Jay, looking him up and down, and then deciding he was cool enough to hang out with, "How old are you?"

"Thirteen."

"I'm fourteen." Matthew said proudly, "Come on, we were about to play basket ball."

Jay lit up, "That's my favorite sport."

"Well come on then!" Matthew said, and he and Jay rushed over to the other boys.

Anna walked over to Kim once Jenny had gone to check on her yeast rolls she was making, "Hi Kim, how's Justine?"

Kim sighed, looking down at Justine in her arms, "Fussy, she's got another ear infection. Her doctor says that if she doesn't stop getting them, they're gonna have to put tubes in her ears."

Anna looked sympathetic, "Sorry to hear about that, would she be able to take them out eventually?"

Kim nodded, "Six, I think."

"Wow, I'm really sorry about that Kim."

Kim shrugged, "It'll be fine. She'll pull through."

"Can Justy play?"

Both women looked down to see Kyler, standing there, looking up at Justine in Kim's arms, fast asleep.

Kim smiled, shaking Justin lightly, "Justy?"

Justin cracked her eyes open, frowning, "Mama?"

"Kyler's here, do you wanna play with her?"

Justine's eyes lit up, and she wiggled out of her mother's arms, dropping down to the ground, and running off with Kyler.

Kim paused, "Should we be concerned?"

Anna shook her head, "Kyler runs off all the time. She just likes being independent."

Kim shrugged, "Alright then, and she never get's hurt?"

"Bruises and scraped up knees, but all kids her age do." Anna reassured. "They won't leave the yard, Kyler knows to stay where she can see us, and not to talk to strangers or walk off with them. They'll be fine."

Kim nodded, "Alright."

Justin followed Kyler through the yard, to the edge, and watched as Kyler scurried under a bush, "Come on Justy."

"Why?" Justine asked, "I don't wanna go under a bush!"

"It's fun." Kyler insisted. "No one can see you, but you can see all of them. Try it."

Justin paused, before crawling under the bush too, peeping out form between the roots. "I still don't get it."

Kyler shrugged, "Just wait awhile."

Justin sighed, waiting with Kyler for a few minutes, until she saw something funny. It was brown and wrinkly, and it had lots of little holes in it. It was hanging from a branch across from Justin's foot, and she reached further into the bush, noticing small little buzzing things covering it, "Kylie, what's that?"

Kyler looked over, "Oh no, Justy don't touch that-"

One of the little buzzy critters flew onto Justin's finger, and immediately, she felt a really big sting go through her hand.

She screamed, jumping up out of the bush, "MOMMY!"

Kim looked up at Justin, her eyes going wide at the side of her baby falling onto her face, screaming her head off. "MOMMY IT HURTS!"

Kim jumped up and took off running, but someone had already beat her to it, Jay. Jay scooped Justy up, grabbing her hand an inspecting it, while Justy wrapped her free arm around Jay's neck, burrowing her face into his neck, still wailing.

Jay looked up at Kim as she reached them both, "Hornet stung her."

Kim nodded, wondering why Jay would care this much about someone he just met. Kim carefully took Justy from Jay, taking her inside David's house to treat her finger. Jason walked up to Jay, and took him but his elbow, dragging him to the other side of the house where no one could see them, before he grabbed Jay by the collar, throwing him against the side of the house.

"What are you playing at!?" Jason hissed.

Jay looked taken back, "What?"

"No one does that, no one moves that fast to help someone! Not someone they just met!" Jason growled, shoving Jay harder. "When you run to help someone like you just did, it says that you care, a lot, so I'm going to ask you one time, why the hell do you care about her so much?!"

Jay paused, eyes wide. "Are you… are you really beating me up, and yelling at me, because I tried to help your daughter?"

Jason paused, and Jay frowned, continuing. "Because if you are, you have serious issues. You wanna know why I care so much about her _Sensei Jason_?" Jay had normally talked to Jason with a lot of respect, but now he was spitting out Jason's title.

"Because she deserves someone." Jay spat.

"She's got me!" Jason protested.

"Yeah, you're such a _great _guy." Jay said sarcastically. "Bullying people because they were trying to help your daughter."

Jason stopped, letting Jay go. There was a long moment of silence, before Jason sighed, "I'm sorry."

"Forget about it." Jay waved off, "Believe it or not, you're actually the best Dad I've ever met."

Jason sighed, "Considering that your father was in the League, I don't have any trouble believing that."

Jay shook his head, "He wasn't in the League of Shadows, he's in the Court of Owls."


	17. Bruising Butterfly

Jay hadn't really made any friends in the neighborhood, but he did make a few acquaintances, and they played a good games of basketball whenever Jay had free time between chores around the house, and training with Jason.

The other boys liked Jay, but they didn't understand why he brought his little sister everywhere with him.

Whenever Jay wanted to ride the new bike that Uncle Dick had given him last week, he had Justin sitting on the handle bars. Whenever he was climbing the tree with the twisted limbs in the retention pond on the side of the neighborhood, he would carry Justin up with him in one arm. Whenever he went to play sports with the other boys, Justin would sit on the side, watching him play.

Everyone could see that the two were inseparable. Jason didn't like it at first, but eventually he got over it. He admitted that he couldn't protect his daughter twenty-four seven, but with Jay, his daughter was completely safe.

Kim and Jason had tried to put Jay into a high school, but Jay had tried it for a week, disappeared for two days, then turned up again, with his GED in his hand.

After Jason was done yelling, and Kim was done hugging the life out of him, he just said, "School sucks. Can I go play with Justin now?"

Matthew tried to snatch the ball away from Jay, but Jay jumped to the left, shooting the ball into the hoop. "Horse!"

The boys on the other team groaned, while Justine jumped up and down, laughing, "Go Jay! Go Jay! Go Jay!"

Jay scooped up Justin, "Come one, dribble down the court!" He rushed to the other end, scooping up the ball, handing it to Justine. She clutched at it, as he lifted her up as high as his arms could reach, "Come on, shoot!"

Justine threw the ball, and it bounced off the hoop, nailing her in the face. "Ah!"

Jay immediately pulled her down, making sure her nose wasn't broken. After he was positive that she wasn't really hurt, he just held her, telling her she'd be fine, and let her cry onto his shoulder.

Matthew walked up to him as the other guys stared, "Dude, what's wrong with you? You go everywhere with this baby."

"She's not a baby." Jay insisted, "I take her everywhere because she's fun to play with."

"She's a little kid!" Matthew said, slapping his forehead, "And a _girl _for the love of God!"

Justine poked her head up, a grin spreading over her face, done with her drama. She pointed at Matthew, "You're a girl!"

Jay cracked up, as did the other boys, while Matthew turned red.

"I'm not a girl, you're a girl!" Matthew snapped, "Girl's are stupid!"

Justin shook her head, "I'm not stupid! I'm Batman!"

Everyone laughed at that.

Jay put Justin down at the edge of the driveway as the boys lined up to play another game.

Matthew paused after a few minutes, "Hey, it's that _freak_."

The boys stopped, looking across the street, seeing the only other kid in the neighborhood everyone hated. His name was Blake, and he looked like he was dead. He had pale skin, and ice blue eyes. He died his hair black, and wore black clothes with weird leather studded chokers and wrist bands. He painted his nails black, and wore black eyeliner. He listened to music that talked about depressing things.

He creeped all the kids out, even though he hardly talked.

He didn't just look creepy either, Matthew's friend Derek had seen Blake with a gun once, a real one. Blake had weird scars on his wrists that all the kids had seen him with. Concerned parents were constantly talking to Blake's parents about it, but nothing ever changed.

Blake didn't even have his own room, he lived in his parent's basement, someone had heard him say he liked it because it was darker down there. The other boys would see him reading books about anatomy, and torture techniques. He had stolen Matthew's Robin action figure, and had tied him up with rubber bands, and had used the Chinese method of drowning him. When Matthew asked for his action figure back, Blake had poor gasoline on him, and set him on fire.

No one ever talked to him after that, not much anyways.

Jay didn't really care how Blake looked, but it was the weapons that raised a red flag. jay used weapons too, in training, but he doubted Blake was training as an assassin. So Jay chose to carefully avoid him, and keep Justin completely away from him.

Jay shrugged, "Let's just keep playing."

As the boy's played, Justin got tired of watching. A big blue butterfly flew past her head, and she jumped up, rushed after it. She chased it around the Andrew's car, and across the street.

It landed on the side of someone's mail box, and Justin jumped up to grab it, but before she could, someone grabbed her, yanking her out of the road. The minute she was out of the way, a red truck rushed down the road, the driver talking on the phone, rushing over the spot she had been standing in.

Justine stared wide eyes, not fully comprehending what might have just happened to her. She looked up at her savior, pale skin, ice blue eyes, big black circles around his eyes. He looked like someone had used black crayon on his eyelids.

The boy was a little taller than Jay, but a lot thinner. He raised an eyebrow, looking at her, then across the street where he knew her older brother was.

A grin spread across his face, and he looked back at Justin, "Do you know anything about ancient Roman torture?

"What does Roman mean?"

Blake grinned, "This'll be fun."

By the time Jay found out Justin was gone, Jay had already taken her down to the basement.

Jay, Matthew, and the rest of the boys rushed around the neighborhood, looking for the girl, but they didn't find her, not even at the retention pond.

Eventually, the other kids had to go home for dinner, and jay was not looking forward to telling Jason he had lost Justin.

Jay walked home, going into the kitchen where Kim was trying to make dinner, and Jason was leaning against her, arms wrapped around her waist, trying to get her to pay attention to him.

"Um… Kim, Jason?"

They both looked up at Jay, and Jason frowned, "Where's Justin?"

"Um, that's the thing, you see-"

There was a sudden knocking on the front door, and Kim rushed to get it, desperate to get away from Jason's attempts at seducing her tonight.

Jason groaned, "Great, I'm not getting lucky tonight."

Kim opened the front door, seeing a boy about Jay's age with a very heavy emo look about him, clutching the hand of her daughter, Justine. "Excuse me ma'am, but does this belong to you?"

Kim's eyes widened, her daughters face was covered in white paste with huge black circles around her eyes, and caked on black lipstick. Her hair had been a brownish red this morning, tied up in pigtails with red power ranger bows. Now, her hair was jet black, with skull barrettes clipped on, and gelled heavily, slicked back. Her black batman t-shirt remained, but her jean overalls had been taken away, and replaced by a hot pink and black frilly tutu.

"Oh my God, what happened to her?" Kim asked, covering her mouth with her hands.

The boy smirked, "We were playing in my room, and she got into my make up. Then she found one of my girlfriends tutu's."

Justy beamed up at Kim, "Look Mommy! I'm a goth!"

The boy frowned at her, "Justy, remember what we talked about."

"Oh, yeah… I'm not a goth, I'm an honest picture of the human soul, dark and empty. Conformists have taken over our world, and I am one of the few people here who recognize life as what it is, dark, cold, painful, and meaningless." Justin droned.

The boy smiled, "We had fun, and she really likes my books. Especially the one about the specific tortures that Count Dracula forces upon his wife's that bore him sons instead of daughters."

"Spikes through their heads! Spikes through their heads!" Justin said excitedly, jumping up and down, still clinging to the boy's hand.

Kim paused for a minute, before looking over her shoulder into the kitchen, "Jay! You better have a _really _good explanation for why my daughter is suddenly in a _cult_!"

The teenage boy scowled at her, then looked down to Justin, "Wow, sorry kid. Looks like your mom is a conformist. She's worse than _my _mom."

Justin gasped, "Mommy!? You're a conformist!? No!"

Jason and Jay entered the room, and Jay paled, and Jason's eyebrow shot up, stepping around Kim, and scooping Justin up, "Wow. I don't really like the tutu, but Kim, our daughter is seriously hardcore!"

"Daddy, Mommy is a conformist!"

Kim groaned, "It's to early for this."

Jason and Kim turned to Jay, and Jason frowned, "Jay, why was my daughter even with this kid?"

Jay paused, and then Blake interrupted, "While Jay was playing sports, Justin was kind of bored, so Jay said I could take her over to my house. You know, to keep her from chasing butterflies into the street, and getting hit by cars."

Jason groaned, "Alright, whatever, but next time, have her home earlier."

Kim glared at Jason, "Jason, you're daughter looks like she just stumbled out of a KISS concert!" Kim grabbed the tutu, carefully pulling the mess off of Justin's legs, leaving her in a diaper and t-shirt. She handed it back to Blake, "Thanks for watching her. Did you want to stay for dinner?"

"Nah, I better go lock myself in my room before my old man gets home. Maybe next time." Blake said, walking away from the house, and running across the street.

Kim sighed, "Jay, can you go give Justine a bath?"

Jay nodded, taking Justin in his arms, "Come on, let's go get this grease off your face."

"Conformist!"

"You don't even know what that word means."

"A conformist is someone who conforms! You're conforming with Mommy and Daddy!" Justin protested. "I don't wanna get a bath! I have rights! I have liberty!"

"Blake." Jay growled, walking into the bathroom with a struggling Justine, "You've ruined the next five weeks of my life."

Kim turned to Jason as soon as Jay was out of ear range. "Jason, you don't think that-"

"I'll watch his house tonight Kim. But you have to understand, he's a kid, and he's in the rebelling stage. He's probably just upset his parents aren't agreeing with his clothes and music and stuff."

Kim nodded, but she knew that look in Jason's eyes. If Blake's father laid a hand on that boy tonight, Jason was going to kill him.


	18. How Much I Love You

As soon as Jay knew Blake was home from school, he threw Justin on top of his shoulders, and headed over to Blake's house.

Blake answered the door, smirking, and Justin immediately reached out for him, "Play! Play! Play! Play!"

"Uh, hi Blake." Jay mumbled.

Blake nodded, "Jay, was it?"

"Yeah."

"Come on in." Blake said, and Jay followed him inside. Surprisingly, Blake's house wasn't dark at all. It was bright, with a tan on white color scheme that looked really nice. Photos with cool frames and modern art hung on the walls.

When Blake passed the kitchen, he called out, "Mom, I'm gonna be down in my room, with my friends, okay?"

Jay heard an exasperated woman sigh, and to his surprise, a beautiful woman with curly strawberry blonde hair walked out of the kitchen, and her eyes rested on Jay. She immediately blinked several times, "Blake, he's your friend?"

Jay smiled at her, holding out his hand, "Jay Todd."

The woman shook his hand, "Elliot Scotch." She turned back to Blake. "Blake, I like this friend."

Blake snorted, "Yeah, because you're both conformist."

Justine piped up, tired of being ignored, "I wanna listen to Black Veil Brides!"

Elliot looked up at Justine, "Oh, you're little sister? If you want, I'll put on some of my daughter's old Barbie movies for her, so you boys can play alone."

"No way Mom, that kid's hardcore." Blake said.

"No thank you Ma'am." Jay said politely.

"Die conformist!" Justin spat angrily, jabbing her finger at Elliot.

Elliot looked at Justine oddly, "Um, okay then…"

Blake took Jay down into the basement, and Jay understood why Blake stayed down here. It was probably the biggest room in the house, and every wall was covered in posters of bands, weird symbols, and pictures of weapons and torture scenes Blake had probably drawn himself. Along with the stereotypical emo stuff, Blake also had several comic book figures on one wall. Rorschach, Night Owl, and the other Watchmen, some of the Minutemen too.

Blake was one surprise after another.

Justin scrambled down from Jay's shoulders, immediately scurried under Blake's bed, coming out with a big plastic box, filled with CD's. "What are those?"

Blake shrugged, "Most of them aren't appropriate unless I'm alone, and actually feeling lonely, others are music." He grabbed one off the top, handing it to Justine, "Pop it in."

Justine slapped the CD into the player, turning the volume up, and plopped down, happily listening to music screaming about death and sadness while she played with Blake's action figures.

Jay sat down on the bed with Blake, "Why'd you cover for me?"

Blake shoved his nose into a book about Edward Poe. "Simple thank you would do."

"No, I mean, thank you, but why?"

"Why not?" Blake snapped, "Don't be a girl Jay."

Justine's head snapped up at Blake, "Hey!"

"You're not a girl Justin, you're Batman." Blake said halfheartedly.

"Okay." Justin said, shrugging it off.

Jay sighed, "Look Blake, you don't owe me anything. I've heard all the crap the other kids in the neighborhood say about you, and I've never contradicted them once. I never stand up for you!"

"That doesn't matter." Blake said, putting his book down and looking up at Jay, "The only thing that matters is that you've never said the things they have. You never call me a freak. You don't leave little notes in my locker telling me to go back to Hell so I can annoy my birth father a little more. You don't ask me how I got rid of the three sixes on my forehead. Honestly, Jay, I've considered suicide before, and the only reason I don't do it some days is because then that would just prove _right _every punk ass kid in this neighborhood that like to pretend that they don't go to dark places in their mind too. Now for the love of God, stop being such a girl and just put on some eyeliner."

Jay paused, then sighed, realizing in a situation like this, with someone like Blake, you just needed to be comforting. "Blake, if you ever do commit suicide, I will dig you up from your grave, and set you on fire."

Blake paused, "That would make a great song title. I'll make up the lyrics later."

Jay raised an eyebrow at Blake, "Dude, why are you depressed all the time? Dressing like this can't help much."

"You're such a conformist Jay." Blake snorted, "I wasn't depressed until about two days _after _I started dressing like this. The minute I put on a black t-shirt, a wrist band, and drew circles under my eyes, every single friend I had deserted me, and started hanging out with dime in a dozen guys like Matthew. That's when this started up."

Blake pulled back his shirt sleeve, showing deep scars down his wrist in a crisscross pattern. "I stopped three months ago, haven't touched the razor since. My parents tried to get me counseling, I just told my shrink to shove it."

Jay bit his lower lip, "Hey, you ever play basketball?"

"That's pointless."

"The point is fun." Jay said, and then gestured around the room, "And if your being honest, all this must be some kind of fun for you, otherwise, you would have started wearing blue jeans and Gap shirts a long time ago."

"… you ever heard of Hollywood Undead?"

"Never." Jay brushed off.

"They've got this great song, it's called Bullet." Blake said, swapping the CD's out of his player.

"What's it about?" Jay asked.

"Suicide."

"Right, naturally."

To his surprise, when the lyrics started, Justine started singing along with the band.

She jumped up and down, singing the song with her tiny little voice while Blake shouted them out with his deep baritone.

"My legs are dangling off the edge,

the bottom of the bottle is my only friend!

I think I slit my wrists again, and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone.

My legs are dangling off the edge, a stomach full of pills didn't work again!

I'll put a bullet in my head, and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone."

Blake jumped in, "I went to far, now I'm gone again.

It's gone on to long, tell you how it ends.

I'm sitting on the edge with my two best friends,

one's a bottle of pills, and one's a bottle of gin.

I'm twenty stories up, yeah I'm up at the top.

I polished off the bottle and it's sliding me off.

Asphalt to me has never looked so soft.

My mom got my letter and she's called the cops."

"I gotta take this opportunity before I miss it,

cause now I hear the sirens, yeah they're off in the distance." Justin giggled.

_Does she even know what she's singing about?_

"Believe me when I say that I've been persistent,

but now my mind is scared, more scared than my wrist is.

I've been trying to long with to dull a knife,

but tonight I made sure that I sharpened it twice."

They continued, "I've never bought a suit before in my life,

but when you go to meet God, you know you wanna look nice."

Nope, she probably didn't.

**LATER THAT NIGHT WITH KIM AND JUSTIN:**

"When is Daddy coming home?" Justin asked, yawning, as Kim picked her up out of the bathtub, wrapping a towel around her, rocking her back and forth in her arms gently.

"He'll be here in the morning baby, I promise." Kim whispered.

"I love you Mommy." Justin yawned.

"I love you more." Kim assured her, walking into Justin's room, and placing her on the changing table, Justin was still going through that awkward potty training faze, so they kept it just in case.

Kim pulled out a black pair of footie pajamas, with Nightwing stripes going from the chest to the sleeves, only thing different, they were red. Jason had gotten her them, and Justin liked them, not as much as her Robin pajamas, but she liked them.

Justine looked up at her mother as Kim pulled the footie pajamas on her, "Guess how much I love you."

Kim paused, "Well, I don't think I could guess that."

Justin smiled tiredly, holding out her arms, "I love you this much!"

Kim nodded, and then held out her own arms, "Well, I love you this much."

Justin paused, seeing how much longer her mother's arms were. She stood up on the table, stretching up as high as she could, "I love you as high as I can reach!"

Kim stretched up to, "Well, I love you as high as I can reach!"

Justin let her arms drop, frowning at how much taller her mother was. She scrambled down from the table, jumping into the air, "I love you as high as I can hop!"

Kim nodded, laughing, "Well, I love you as high as I can hop." Kim jumped up into the air, her fingers brushing against the ceiling.

Justin stuck out her lower lip in a pout, thinking carefully, before sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly, not knowing what else she could show her mother that she couldn't out distance. "Okay then."

Kim smiled, picking up Justine, and carrying her to her small bed, past her window. Justin looked over her mother's shoulder, seeing the moon dangling in the sky.

Kim set Justin in the bed, pulling the covers around her.

"Mommy?"

Kim looked at Justin, "Yes?"

"I love you all the way to the moon." Justin yawned.

Kim paused, "Well, that _is _a long way away, isn't it?"

Justin nodded, smiling before falling asleep. Kim stood up, walking to the edge of the bedroom, turning the lights off. Justin didn't sleep with a nightlight, she would complain about it being to bright.

Kim smiled at her sleeping daughter, "Well, I love you all the way to the moon, and back."

Kim shut the door, stepping into the hallway. The minute she did, hands circled around her waist. Someone's face nuzzled into her neck, and breath tickled the back of her neck.

"Jason." Kim whispered, sighing with content.

Jason smirked against her neck, "I love you."

Kim smiled, "I love you more."

Jason chuckled, turning Kim around in his arms, and pressing her up against the wall. "How much do you love me?"

Kim smiled, "Oh, all the way to the moon."

Jason laughed, scooping Kim up in his arms, rushing her into their bedroom, and tossing her onto the bed, before jumping on her gently. "Well Kimmy, I love you all the way to the moon and back."


	19. Sabotage- Beastie Boys!

Justine ran around in circles, trying to catch falling leaves in Justin's back yard, while Jay and Blake watched from the porch, drinking hot chocolate that Kim had given them. "So, just you me and the kid today huh?" Blake asked.

Jay shook his head, "Naw, Kyler's supposed to come over here with her Dad I think."

"Now why is that kid always around here?" Blake asked, "Doesn't she have her own home?"

Jay smirked at him, "The same could be said about you. You're over here everyday after school, and you sleep over every weekend."

"Yeah, well sorry if I don't wanna go home." Blake shrugged.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the two of them. Jay knew that Blake didn't like his parents, but wondered why. Was there some reason other than Blake's fashion choices? Jay could never work up the nerve to ask Blake. He was torn between wanted to help his friend, and the fact it was probably none of his business. Still, Blake seemed pretty open to hinting at it.

Justin suddenly squealed in delight, rushing over to the porch, a big red leaf clutched in her hands, "I caught it!"

Jay scooped Justin up, pulling her onto his lap, and then tickling her. Justin squealed, "No! Stop Jay! Stop!"

Jay laughed, and stopped tickling her, offering her a sip of his hot chocolate. "Careful, it's hot."

Justin ignored his warning, taking a big mouthful of the hot chocolate so her cheeks looked like a chipmunks, and then spitting it all over Jay's face.

Jay cried out, and Justin bolted off of his lap, scurrying under the table while Jay dabbed at his eyes, "Ugh!"

Jay peeked through his squinted eyelids at Justin, "Kid, as soon as my face stops burning like hell, you're gonna get it!"

Justin gasped, clinging to the chair legs, "Blake!"

Blake just laughed, "No way kid, I'm staying out of this one."

The back gate swung open, and Kyler rushed into the back yard, "Justy! Justy!"

Justine scrambled out from under the table, rushing over to Kyler, "Kylie!"

Jay and Blake looked up as the gate swung open again, expecting to see Kyler's dad, but instead, a beautiful girl walked in. Blake and Jay immediately both dropped their jaws in sync, staring at her as she walked in.

She had honey blonde hair, and piercing green eyes. In tune with the cold weather, she was wearing a pale purple sweater and long baby blue sweat pants. Her sweater hugged her frame, showing off her natural curves, and making her eyes stand out.

Jay immediately looked down at his shirt, cursing as he saw chocolate stains all over it. Blake snickered at him, standing up from his chair, "Your loss man."

Blake crossed the yard, walking up to this new girl, "Hey."

She looked up at him, smiling shyly, "Hi, are you Jay?"

Blake shook his head, "Nah, I'm Blake, his friend. And you are?"

She smiled, "I'm Caitlin, Kyler's cousin, I came in from Star City for Halloween."

Blake's eyes lit up, "You like Halloween?"

Caitlin nodded, "Love it."

If there was one holiday that stood out to Blake from the rest of them, it was Halloween. And a girl who liked Halloween? This girl just went up a few notches in his mental hot meter. "Me too, favorite holiday."

Caitlin nodded, "So, what are you going as?"

Blake waved his finger back and forth, teasingly, "Now, that is a surprise, but I'll tell you this, it's a classic."

Caitlin laughed a little, "Really? Mine too. I don't keep secrets though, so I'll just tell you. I'm going to be Snow White."

And now she dropped to the middle of the hot meter. "Oh? Well, I'm going as something scary."

Caitlin giggled, "Scary? Have fun with that, I like looking cute."

Blake nodded, "Alright, whatever."

Blake made a beeline for the front porch, shaking his head at Jay, "You can have her man, she's so not my type. To giggly. _Way_, to happy."

Jay jumped up, brushing chocolate off his shirt, "Sweet."

Blake pulled his grey turtleneck over his head, revealing a black wife beater underneath. "Here ya go man, good luck, I've gotta get home."

Jay raised an eyebrow, taking the turtle neck, "You're walking home in that? It's cold outside dude."

Blake picked up his unfinished hot chocolate, "No worries, I'll return the mug. Maybe."

Jay shook his head as Blake left, rushing out into the yard and scooping up Justin, Throwing her over his shoulder and twirling her around, "I got ya!"

Justin squealed, and Caitlin smiled at Jay, "So, you're Jay?"

Jay nodded, smiling, "Yeah, Caitlin, right?"

She nodded. "That's right. You know, you're really good with her."

Jay shrugged, setting Justin down. "What can I say, she's my little sister, gotta love this brat."

Caitlin smiled, "That's sweet."

Justin and Kyler rushed off to chase leaved, until they fell down dizzy. Justin looked up at Kyler, "Hey Kyler, what are you gonna be for Halloween? Speedy?"

Kyler shook her head, smiling, "No. Are you gonna be Nightwing?"

Justin grinned from ear to ear, "No."

Kyler suddenly gasped, pointing behind Justin, at Caitlin and Jay. Justine looked over her shoulder, and nearly screamed. Jay and Caitlin were doing something Justin had only seen her parents do to each other, and Blake do to a few girls before. They were kissing!

Justin turned back to Kyler, asking her, "Do you like it?"

Kyler shook her head, "No, do you?"

Justin glared over at Caitlin, "_No_."

Kyler raised an eyebrow, "Then what do we do?"

Justin furrowed her eyebrows, "What I do whenever I want to play with Daddy, but he's hugging Mommy. We sabedoge it."

"Sabedoge? What's that?" Kyler asked.

"It's when you stop something from happening." Justin said, "Like Jay and Caitlin gettin' married." Justin explained.

Kyler's eyes widened, "Married!? They're gonna get married!?"

"Well, they're already kissing! You know how the song goes, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes-"

"Babies!" Kyler exclaimed. "No! I don't want Caitlin to get prego Justin!"

"What's prego?"

"It's when you have a baby inside of you, I heard my mommy say it once. She said that if Daddy wasn't more careful, she was gonna get prego again."

"What happens when you're prego?" Justin asked.

Kyler shivered, "I saw it in a movie once, you get _really fat_, and you're angry and sad _all the time_, and you yell at people even when they don't do _anything _to you, and then you get even _fatter_!"

Justin's eyes widened, "What if Caitlin doesn't get prego, what if Jay get's prego?"

Kyler shrugged, "Well, then it won't be my problem anymore."

Justin went pale. "I don't want Jay to get prego Kyler, if he turns into one of those fatties, then he can't play Batman and Robin anymore!"

Kyler nodded, "And if Caitlin get's prego, then she can't play Green Arrow and Speedy anymore!"

Justin nodded, "Alright then, we've gotta bust them up!"

Kyler nodded, "Okay!"

They were both silent for a moment, until Kyler asked, "How?"

Justin practically deflated, "I don't know."

"Well, what do you do when you want your Daddy to play with you, and stop hugging your Mommy?" Kyler asked.

"I tell Daddy I want him to play Batman and Robin with me." Justin said.

Kyler nodded, "Okay, whenever I want my Daddy to stop hugging my Mommy, I tell my Mommy that I wanna play princess."

"Okay, you get Caitlin, I'll get Jay." Justin ordered.

Kyler grabbed Justin's hand, "Wait, we need a name for the mission."

"A name?" Justin asked.

"Yeah, that's what heroes do, it's what my Daddy does whenever he goes on a mission."

Justin nodded, "Okay, we'll call it mission prevent the prego."

Kyler nodded, "Okay, and after we do it, we have to write a report on it."

"Write?" Justin asked. "But I'm not even in kindergarten yet!"

Kyler frowned, "Oh yeah, neither am I."

They both paused, until Kyler brightened, "I've got it! We'll write in our own code! We'll make it up, and it'll be our own way for writing."

Justin nodded, "Okay then."

Kyler nodded, "Alright, begin mission prevent the prego!"

Justin and Kyler launched themselves at Jay and Caitlin, Kyler shouting, "I wanna go home and play princess!"

Justin latched onto Jay's leg giving him her best puppy dog eyes ever, "Jay, please play Batman and Robin with me!"

Caitlin said goodbye to Jay, and took Kyler home immediately. Jay dug out the black cowl and cape for Batman, and the green domino mask and yellow short cape for Robin, and then Justin and Jay ran around their backyard, catching Poison Ivy, Penguin, Two Face, and even Joker all day long.

* * *

><p><strong>And Yes, Justin nad Kyler weren't pronouncing sabotage right, they kept saying it sabedoge because they're kids, and they're only two. Kyler is actually a few months older than Justin, so she'll probably be getting her birthday soon.<strong>


	20. Trick Or Treat, Smell My Feet

Justin jumped up and down excitedly, while her mother tried to secure her mask in place, "And I'm gonna get a Hershey bar! And gum! And pixie stix! And candy apples! And M&M's! And Mars bars! And Tootsie rolls! And-"

"And if you don't stay still so I can put your costume on, you aren't going." Kim warned.

Justin stayed still, letting her mother tie the mask on, "There, all done Justin."

"Okay. And I'm gonna get jawbreakers! And ring pops! And butterfingers! And milky ways! And baby ruths! And snickers! And nerds! And tootsie pops!"

Jay came in, smirking down at Justin, "Nice costume."

Justin was decked out in a black muscle shirt and black pants, with red stitching all across the legs, up the chest, and around the neck. Kim had strapped a red mask around her face that covered her cheek bones up to her forehead.

"Thank you!" Justin giggled, "You make a great Luke Skywalker!"

Jay looked down at his Luke Skywalker costume, taking out his light saber and turning it on, "I will never join the dark side!"

"I am your father!" Justin said, trying to sound like Darth Vader.

"Hey!" Jason said coming into the room, "How's the costumes com-"

He froze, staring down at Justin… "Kim… What the hell is your daughter wearing?"

Kim smirked, "It's all on you, Jason. You let your daughter watch WWE wrestling, so now you're going to pay the price."

"NO!" Jason protested.

Justin gasped, "Daddy, are you Daniel Bryan!?"

Jay stifled his laughter, pulling his hood over his head, snorting.

Jason took a deep breath, getting down on one knee to look Justin in the eye, "Justy, baby, are you sure you wanna dress up like this? Do you even know who you are?"

"I'm KANE!" Justin yelled excitedly.

"Well, yeah I get that but, you're a girl-"

"I AM THE DEVILS FAVORITE DEMON!" Justin screamed, and Jason nearly flinched. Yep, he could here a bat voice under that little girl voice. Damn it.

"Justy, why would you even want to dress up like Kane?" Jason groaned. Seeing his little girl dressed up like the demon himself was not something Jason particularly _liked_.

"Because he's cool! You said that he was the best!" Justin said, fingering her mask.

"Well," Jay interjected, "Actually MC Punk is the best, he is the-"

"Jay. Shut up. Kane could take him easily." Jason snapped. He turned back to Justine, "But Justy, the point is, you don't exactly know what kind of person Kane is, and honey, he's-"

"He is the devil's favorite demon." Justy said, going into the deepest voice she could manage. "He grew up locked in a basement, suffering severe physiological and emotional scarring when his brother set his parents on fire."

Jason raised an eyebrow, listening as his daughter raved on about Kane. "From there he sifted among a variety of mental institution until he was grown, at which point, he buried his brother alive. Twice. Since then, he's set a couple of people on fire, and abducted various coworkers. He once electrocuted a man's testacies."

Jason covered his face with his hands, groaning. "He had a girlfriend named Katie, but let's just say that didn't turn out to well. His real father is a guy named Paul Bearer, who he recently trapped in a meat locker. He's been married and divorced, broke up his ex-wife's wedding, and tomb stoned the priest. And for reasons never quite explained, has an unhealthy obsession with torturing Pete Rose."

Jason was silent for a minute, before sighing, "Alright, Justin, you make one great Kane. Now go find yourself a Daniel Bryan."

"Yay!" Justin said, and the doorbell rang. "Kyler!"

Jay scooped Justin up, taking her to the door, and opened it to see Caitlin and Kyler standing there, in a black shirt and pants, but the shirt and red and grey streaks on the sleeves. She had aquiver and a bow strapped to her back, and a pillowcase in one hand. Justin frowned, looking at Kyler, "Who are you?"

Kyler smiled excitedly, "I'm Katniss! Who are you?"

"Who the hell is Katniss?" Justin asked, and Kim groaned, "And for your information, I AM KANE!"

Kyler frowned, raising and eyebrow, "Who's Kane?"

Two seconds ticked by before Justin sighed, and opened her mouth, "Kane is the devils favorite demon. He grew up locked in a basement, suffering severe physiological and emotional scarring when his brother set his parents on fire and-"

Jay put his hand over her mouth, "And, you Caitlin, look gorgeous."

Caitlin blushed looking down at her costume, Snow White. "Uh, really? Thanks. You look cute."

Jay smiled a little, before Justin latched onto his leg desperately, "Jay! Jay! Jay! Come on! Come on! Let's go trick or treat!"

"Not now, we have to wait for Blake to get here, and-"

A suddenly voice took them off, deep and throaty, "Well kiddies, you shouldn't wait out here… in the dark."

They all spun around to see a tall man, with a red and green stripped sweater, and leather gloves with long metal nails. His face was badly burned, and he had a wicked grin.

Caitlin screamed, grabbing Kyler up off the ground, and jumping behind Jay. Jay's eyes widened, staring at none other then Freddy Krueger. Justin's jaw went slack, pulling her Kane mask on a little tighter, hoping she looked scarier then Freddy.

Freddy let out a cackle, "Now why are you screaming? I haven't cut you yet!"

Jay grabbed Justin, shoving her into Caitlin's arms right next to Kyler. "Run! I'll hold him off!"

Caitlin took off, darting down the street to try and get to her Uncle Roy's house.

Jay turned to Freddy, falling into a fighting stance, "Get ready to go back to Hell."

Freddy jumped forward, and Jay did too.

Caitlin heard jay scream from down the street, and seeing as she wasn't even halfway to her uncle's house, she turned, and ran off into the woods bordering one side of the neighborhood.

When she felt she had run far enough, she dropped the girls, and Kyler started sobbing, "C-Caitlin! W-what are we gonna do!?"

Caitlin panted, "Just… just stay calm, we have to stay calm."

Justin snorted, crossing her arms, "You dummy! Why didn't you just take us back into my house? My Daddy coulda shot that guy!"

Caitlin paused, never having heard a toddler talk like that. "Uh… because Freddy was _right there_, and he could have easily killed Jay and broken the door down? And about your dad, sorry, but I'm not trusting my life to a guy I just met."

"Yeah well… you're still a dummy!" Justin proclaimed. "Bad things happen in the woods! Don't you watch any movies!?"

Kyler stopped crying for a moment, panting heavily, "W-what happens in the woods?"

Before Caitlin could stop her, Justin blurted out, "A guy with a chainsaw! That's what happens in the woods!"

"Why a chainsaw?' Kyler whimpered.

"So he can tear off your face and use it as a mask." Justin said, as if telling someone what the weather would be like tomorrow.

Kyler's face froze, a few seconds ticked by, and she let out a small squeak. "Caitlin!"

Caitlin, having gathered her wits again, asked, "What?"

"I need to change my costume." Kyler said, embarrassed.

Caitlin sighed, and Justin raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

Kyler grew red in the face, "I started potty training last week, and I'm not that good at it…"

Justin's eyes grew wide, "You started potty training!? But… I'm still in huggies!"

Caitlin groaned, "Kyler, Justin, have you girls ever been in these woods before?"

Justin nodded, "Yeah, lots of times with Jay and Blake, they know all the best hiding places for when Mommy and Daddy say it's bath time."

"Then can you find the way back?" Caitlin asked.

Justin paused, "Uh… ai bath time, the sun is still up."

Kyler nodded, "Yeah, daddy takes me here at dark sometimes! I can get us home!"

Caitlin brightened, "Really?"

She nodded, "Yeah, come on Justin, help me up that tree!"

Justin and Kyler darted over to a tall tree with a narrow trunk, and Justin got on all fours, Kyler standing on her back, and hugging the tree trunk with her arms and legs, shimmying up the tree like Mario did on that old Super Mario, Nintendo sixty four game Uncle Roy had.

Kyler climbed up quickly, almost all the way to the top, looking around the forest. "I see the neighborhood! But we should run away from it."

"Why?" Caitlin called up, not quite sure why she wasn't alarmed by the fact her two and a half year old cousin was that high up a tree.

"Cause that scary guy is coming!" Kyler shouted, scrambling down from the tree into Caitlin's arms.

As soon as Kyler was on the ground again, Freddy dashed into the clearing. Caitlin screamed again, backing up slowly, her back hitting the tree trunk.

"Gonna make you bleed girly." Freddy snickered.

Kyler whimpered, "Which girl is he talking about?"

"Well Caitlin's the only one here in a dress!" Justin hissed.

Freddy walked closer, "Do you know who I am?"

"Darth Vader?" Kyler asked.

Freddy actually hesitated, "Wait… what?"

"You're face is all burned up, are you Darth Vader without the mask and helmet and all the black?" Kyler asked.

"I AM NOT DARTH VADER!" Freddy roared, "I'M A DEMON STRAIGHT FROM HELL!"

Kyler brightened, "Oh yeah, well Justin is the devil's favorite demon! Tell him Justin!"

Justin paused as Freddy's gaze turned to her, "One demon to another… eat Kyler first."

Kyler turned to look at Justin, her mouth open like a codfish, "What!?"

Freddy just started laughing, it dimmed down form a cackle, to a voice Caitlin remembered immediately. Freddy let his gloves fall, his hands going up to the edge of his face, and peeling his flesh off.

Kyler screamed, and Caitlin jumped forward, smacking him across the face.

Justin gasped, "Whoa, your cousin's got brass balls!"

Freddy hissed, "Ouch! Jesus Caitlin, it was just a joke!"

Justin frowned, and Freddy turned to wink at her, but it wasn't Freddy. Justin brightened, "Blake!"

Blake scooped Justin up, hugging her, "You bet kid, and from one demon to another, you'd totally survive a Freddy Cougar movie."

Justin smiled, "Okay."

"Kid… who are you dressed as anyways?" Blake asked.

"Kane!' Justin said happily. Silence. "From WWE."

"Oh, that guy." Blake said.

"Wait a minute." Caitlin said, "If you were Freddy, then where's Jay?"

Blake snorted, "Come on out lover boy!"

Jay jogged into the clearing, stopping next to Caitlin, opening his arms for a hug, "Hey look! I'm alive Caitlin!"

Caitlin glared at him, "I should smack you."

Jay put on his best puppy dog eyes, "But… I wanted a hug."

Caitlin smiled, "Oh… you're so adorable."

As Caitlin went in for a hug, Justin shouted, "Jay! Jay! Jay! I wanna go trick or treat!"

Kyler grabbed onto Caitlin's leg, "Me too! Me too!"

Jay took Justin from Blake, and Caitlin sighed, scooping up Kyler from the ground. Jay leaned into peck Caitlin on the cheek, "Later, maybe?"

Caitlin nodded, "Oh, you just wait until these kiddies are asleep."

Blake sighed, "And now I, alas, am the lonely, third wheel, bachelor."

Caitlin rolled her eyes, "Your dress up like that on Halloween, and you're number one flaw with yourself is you don't have a girlfriend?"

"I think all of our primary concerns should be that Justin dressed up as the most demonic character of WWE." Blake snapped.

Caitlin nodded, "Actually, I'm gonna have to agree with emo boy on this one. What's wrong with that kid?"

Jay sighed, "We don't know, we only pray there's a cure."

Justin raised an eyebrow when everyone laughed, not understanding the joke.

Jay shrugged, "And hey, at least she didn't dress up as MC Punk right? Or even worse-"

"Hilary Clinton?" Blake guessed.

"I was gonna say Casey Anthony, but they're both probably on equal footing." Jay relented.


	21. Halloween Tricks And Treats

Justin and Kyler were happily walking in front of the older teenagers, rooting through their bags of candy, planning on what the eat first.

Caitlin and Jay were holding hands, but Justin and Kyler didn't even notice.

The minute they got home, Blake took the two girls outside, and Jay and Caitlin quickly grabbed their candy bags. Once they came back in, Jay kneeled down in front of them both, "Kyler, Justin, we have a confession to make."

Justin and Kyler looked at each other, then back up at them. "What?" Kyler asked.

Blake and Caitlin exchanged guilty looks, and then Jay took a deep breath, "We ate all your Halloween candy."

Kyler froze, her eyes widening, one eyebrow higher than the other. "What? You ate all my suckers?"

Caitlin nodded, "Yes, we did. I'm so sorry Kylie."

Kyler slumped forward, bursting into tears, "AAAAAAHHHH!"

Justin paused, staring up at Jay and Blake, before clenching her tiny fists, jumping at Jay's knees, hitting and biting, drawing blood. Jay pried her off, holding her out at arms distance as she tried to kick him, "Justy, I'm sorry!"

She grunted, still trying to kick him, "I don't want you to eat _any more _of my _candy_!"

"But it's all gone!" Blake explained.

Justin reeled, "You… you conformist!"

Blake nodded, sighing. "Yes, I'm a conformist for taking your candy. I'm sorry Justy."

"We… worked… so hard for that candy!" Kyler sobbed.

Justin nodded, "We _walked _door to door, _begging _for candy!"

Caitlin sighed, "I know, and I'm really sorry that we ate your candy. Do you forgive us?"

Kyler nodded, "I… forgive you… C-Caitlin."

Jay looked down at Justin, "Do you forgive me?"

"No!" Justin screamed, "I want my candy!"

Caitlin leaned down, hugging Kyler. "Thank you Kyler, I love you."

Kyler nodded, wiping away her tears, "I… l-love… y-you too."

Blake and Jay both hugged Justin at the same time, both saying, "I love you Justin."

Justin smacked them both, "I hate you!"

Jay sighed, turning to Caitlin, "You win, here's the money."

Jay handed Caitlin ten dollars, and then turned back to Justin, "We were just kidding, we didn't eat your candy."

Kyler looked up at Caitlin as she handed her the big pillow case of candy. Instead of talking, Kyler just grabbed the pillow case, hugging it tightly. Justin grabbed her pillow case, taking off for her bedroom, "NO ONE TOUCHES MY CANDY ANYMORE!"

Blake groaned, "Great, now we know who loves their older sibling more. I'm just mad we didn't win."

Once Justin and Kyler went to sleep, Jay, Blake, and Caitlin stepped outside, running off and playing with the other teenagers.

"Hey Jay?" Caitlin asked, turning around to see Blake and Jay staring at another girl, dressed like a vampire. A vampire who was pale, and showed off that quality by showing a lot of skin. Caitlin frowned, looking down at her own costume. It was modest, which was why she had chosen it instead of the bumble bee costume.

"Caitlin?" Jay asked, finally noticing her, "Are you okay?"

Caitlin looked up, "Yeah! Yes, I am, just uh, tired. So, um, I'm gonna go ahead and go home. See ya, uh, around Christmas or… whatever."

Caitlin turned, heading towards her uncles house, where her parents were waiting in the car.

Jay turned to Blake, who had managed to get the vampire chick around his arm. "Uh, you go ahead Jay, go after your girl. I'll have your back… from the back of my dad's truck."

The vampire girl just giggled.

Jay could only guess what Blake would be doing there.

Jay followed Caitlin inside Roy's house, into the guest room. Caitlin turned around, finally noticing him. "Oh, Jay. What are you-"

She was cut off by Jay's lips on hers. When he finally pulled away, he looked at her, "You know, the only reason I was looking at the girl was because I was picturing you in that outfit right?"

Caitlin blushed, "Jay, I-"

"I know, you wanna go slow. I respect that. But whenever you're ready, Caitlin, I promise you I'll still be right here, waiting."

Caitlin paused, before throwing herself at Jay, tackling him to the floor, "Jesus, where did I find a guy like you!?"

Before Jay could even answer, Caitlin's lips were on his, her tongue sneaking it's way into his mouth. Jay immediately responded, flipping her over so he was on top of her, pushing her tongue away with his own, and then entering her mouth. He ran his tongue over her front teeth, and felt her shudder beneath him.

He pulled away for air, "Caitlin…"

She smiled up at him, "Jay, are you just going to stare at me, or are you going to kiss me again?"

Jay's tongue practically leapt back into her mouth, darting around, rushing over teeth and tongue, exploring every crevice.

"Caitlin, are you- WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING!?"

Caitlin and Jay jerked away from each other, seeing her Uncle Roy standing there, fuming. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE TODD!"

Jay rushed out past Roy, avoiding the knife aimed at his head, over the fence, and down the street, not stopping until he was safely inside his own house. He took a deep breath, walking past Kim and Jason's room, before pausing, pressing his ear to their door.

"OH Mr. Todd~!"

Jay shuddered, trying not to imagine what was going on in that room, and Justin popped up out of no where, "Jay, what are Mommy and Daddy doing?"

Jay scooped her up before she could open the door and find out, "There's a ghost in their room. Let's go hide!"

"Okay!"


	22. Rise Of The Guardians

Christmas was right around the corner, and every house on the block showed it. Roofs, fences, trees, and bushes were decorated with lights, and the more… eccentric neighbors were in a bit of a fork on the road.

Roy Harper glared at Jason Todd, before thanksgiving had rolled around, Roy had lived three miles away from Jason. But after Roy had once again royally screwed himself, Roy and Anna had moved into a bigger house with the extra bedrooms needed now that the doctor said there would be two little bundles of joy popping out this time around. That house happened to be right across the street from Jason.

Kyler and Justin had both turned three, and Justin had finally caught up to Kyler in potty training. The closer the two girls got, the more their parents argued.

"I'm telling you, my house is more festive." Roy growled out.

Jason rolled his eyes, "No, it's to over the top, multi-colored lights? Bah. I'll stick with the white ones, thank you very much."

Kim and Anna rolled their eyes at the men, going back to taking the third batch of cookies out of the oven, swatting away Jay's hands as he tried to grab one for himself. "Jay, you wait for them to cool off!"

Jay sighed, "Yes ma'am."

When Kim turned back to look at the cookie tray, eight of her chocolate shipped goods were gone, and two little girls running out the back door were the culprits. Kim glared at Jay, smart enough to recognize a plot when she saw one. "You better be damn glad that we need a baby sitter that has two fully functioning legs young man. Other wise, you're be in the ER right about now, needing a cast."

Jay's eyes grew wide, "Well… uh, I'm really glad that I just have a wonderful mother like you who loves me very much, and is beautiful beyond comparison?"

Kim paused, before sighing, "You're gonna make one hell of a husband one of these days boy. Until then, you're doing the dishes tonight."

"Love you too mom!"

**OUTSIDE:**

Justin and Kyler sat on a log in the snow, Justin was stuffing her face with the cookies, Kyler was scribbling down their recent adventures in the book they had taken to writing their code in. Their personal way of writing was boxes, triangles, circles and rectangles with designs inside them, and various lines.

"And then Jay was never allowed to see or call my cousin Caitlin again." Kyler concluded, finally putting her pencil down, "Wow, we finally got done writing down our Halloween adventure!"

Justin looked up, chocolate smeared across her lips, "Do you think we'll have a Christmas adventure too?"

"I sure hope it isn't a long one." Kyler said, "My hands hurts."

Justin pulled her mitten back on, "Hey, ya wanna walk around the woods to try and find one?"

"Find what?"

"A Christmas adventure!" Justin beamed.

Kyler nodded, "Alright, we can take my sled, and try and slide down the biggest hill we find!"

Justin sighed, "Well, it'll do for now."

They headed down to the woods next to the retention pond, but once they got there, Justin wasn't so sure about the sled anymore.

The retention pond was always nearly full to the brim with run off water from the cigarette factory nearby, so it was more like a man made pond, and once winter had set in, it had frozen over.

Justin beamed, "Let's go ice skating!"

Kyler frowned, "Don't be stupid, ginger, we don't have ice skates."

Justin glared back at Kyler, "Don't call me stupid, you fat Jew!"

The girls had heard both of their fathers yell such insults at each other and other people, and considering Kyler was Jewish, Justin had taken up calling her that, whenever their parents weren't around.

"We don't need ice skates anyways!" Justin smirked, "We have boots, they'll work, just like sliding across the kitchen floor in your socks."

To prove her point, Justin stepped out onto the ice, slipping forward, and landing on her stomach, "Ouch!"

Kyler laughed, and Justin glared at her, "Don't laugh at me, Jew!"

Justin stood up shakily again, and started slipping closer and closer to the middle. Kyler stopped laughing, seeing the ice start cracking in hair thin crevices, "Justy, Justy, stop!"

"I can't Kylie!" Justin shouted, fear crossing her face.

Kyler watched helplessly as the ice cracked more beneath her friend, "Justy! Someone, Help! Help! Help!"

Justin trembled, not sure what to do, until she looked up, seeing a teenager rush out of the woods, and onto the ice.

"No, you'll make it crack even more!" Kyler shouted in warning, but the teenager didn't seem to hear her, he just waited until the ice started cracking beneath him, and then he froze, five feet from Justin.

Justin looked up in fear, and the teenage boy looked back at her. He had blonde hair in a tight crew cut, black pants, and a dark grey hoodie. He glared down at her, "Why the hell did you run out here!?"

She just shook with fear, "I… I'm scared."

The boy shook his head, "I can't believe I have to do this." He finally seemed to acknowledge her, "Alright, don't be scared, okay? Have you ever played hop scotch?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

He nodded, "Alright, just do what I do." He stepped forward, the ice cracking and creaking. Justin stepped forward too, and the boy reached out, grabbing the front of her jacket, "Alright, get ready to hop, okay?"

She nodded, "Okay!"

The boy paused, "Jump!" Justin jumped into the air, and the boy used the front of her jacket, tossing her off the pond and onto the snow. The Ice underneath him cracked, and he fell into his waist, "GOOD GOD THAT'S COLD!"

Justin and Kyler stared at him as he rushed out of the water, barely looking at them as he rushed past, "Go home you stupid kids!"

Justin and Kyler didn't have to be told twice, but needless to say, they were in big trouble for not telling anyone where they went, and for even trying to go out onto the ice in the first place.

**LATER THAT NIGHT:**

Jay stepped outside of his room, sneaking down the hallways, out through the back door, and into the woods.

He stopped, when he saw a tall teenager boy leaning against a tree, sniffing white powder from the palm of his hand. Jay stiffened, "I knew it was you, the minute Jusitn told us what happened."

The boy looked up at Jay, smirked, quickly snorted the rest of the powder up his nose, and said, "Nice to see you too little brother. I hear you've got a name now. What, is Four not good enough anymore?"

Jay glared at him, "Look One, I didn't come here to argue with you. What are you doing here?"

"Just keeping an eye on our little plan b." One explained, "If you don't turn out to be a good enough Jason Todd, then that little rug rat you're running around with is next on the block."

Jay shook his head, "Tell father that won't happen. I'm improving already, and I'll reach the level they want by the time I'm eighteen."

One just laughed, his eyes starting to turn red and puffy from the crack. "Try taking two years off of that number Jay. You've got to be able to beat Jason Todd in three years. And stop fooling around with that hot piece of ass from Halloween. Focus on your mission, then afterwards, have your fun."

Jay grit his teeth, "Don't call her that."

One jerked his head to look at Jay, "What did you just say to me, punk ass?"

Jay swallowed his pride, "Forget it, alright? I'll focus on my training, tell father he doesn't need to worry."

One nodded, "Damn straight. If he was worrying, then you'd be dead little brother."

**THE NEXT DAY:**

Justin scribbling madly into the little notebook, "And then the dumb blonde boy ran away, because we don't know his name, we're going to call him Jack Frost."

Kyler looked up as Justin shut the book, "Do you really think that guy was Jack Frost?"

"He saved me from falling in a frozen pond, just like his little sister, in that new movie!" Justin explained, "And he had on a hoodie, just like Jack Frost."

"He had shoes on Justy." Kyler frowned, "And he didn't have white hair, he was a blonde. And his hoodie wasn't blue. And he didn't have an ice staff."

"Shut up you stupid Jew, I don't see you coming up with any ideas!" Justin snapped.

Kyler crossed her arms, pouting, "I have a feeling I'm gonna be second wing to you for the rest of my life."

"Damn straight!" Justin said gleefully.

Kim froze, having heard that part of the conversation ,walking past Justin's room down the hall. She sighed, shaking her head, "Jason Peter Todd!"

Jason froze stiff, bending over his desk, fiddling with a gun, "Uh oh."


	23. It Is Way To Late To Write For Christmas

Justin curled up in front of her Christmas tree, her Nightwing footie pajamas on, and her Batman blanket tucked around her shoulders. Kim watched her daughter from the doorway, smiling, "You gonna go to bed anytime soon?"

Justin shook her head, "Uh uh, I'm waiting for Santa!"

Kim just shook her head, "You can't stay up for long Justin, I know your tired. Even Jay is sleeping like a rock."

Justin yawned, "Well, I'm gonna try mommy."

Kim nodded, "Alright, good luck."

The minute Kim left he living room, Justin pulled a walkie talkie out of her pile of blankets, "Kyler?"

There was a short crackle on the other end of the line, and then Kyler's voice came out of the radio, "Yeah, I'm here Justin."

Justin nodded, "Alright, do you have the secret weapon?"

There was a short pause, then Kyler answered, "Yeah, I've got it… do I really have to do this? If my daddy catches me, he's gonna be _mad _Justin."

Justin snorted, "So? If my mommy find out, she's gonna break my legs!"

Kyler paused, then sighed, "Alright you win, are you ready for it?"

Justin stood up, "Are you across the street yet?"

"Yeah, and it's cold out here Justin!" Kyler snapped.

Justin walked over to her front door, opening it quietly, and letting in Kyler. She was wearing a green and red plaid nightgown, with her father's slipper on her feet. She shivered, rushing into the house, rubbing her arms to keep them warm.

Justin rolled her eyes, "Where it is?"

Kyler sighed, handing Justin the black and blue soda can, "Here ya go, my daddy drinks this to wake himself up in the mornings."

Justin took it, "Alright, now get outta my house, Jew."

Kyler dashed back out into the cold, trying to get to her house before her toes froze off. Justin settled down in front of the tree again, drowning the monster drink quickly.

Before she knew it, she was twitching, and quickly grabbed the walkie talkie, "Kyler-I-feel-like-running-to-China!"

Kyler paused on the other end, "How much of that monster drink did you have?"

"All-of-it!"

"I told you, only one sip every seven minutes!"

"Oh-like-you-know-everything-about-caffeine!"

"You know I'm a math prodigy!"

"Shut-up-you-stupid-Jew!"

"You shut up, Todd!"

Before Justin could respond, she heard something rumble in the chimney. She threw her walkie talkie away, and dove under one of her blankets.

She bit down on her tongue, trying not to giggle with excitement. Someone fell down the chimney, landing on the floor in front of her, swearing in a language she didn't understand. She peeked out of the blankets, seeing the boy from the lake.

His clothes and hair were covered in soot, and as he stood up, Justin could see ice all over his legs. He was shivering, holding his sides and shaking. Justin could see that he had lost the boots he had on yesterday, his toes an unhealthy color of blue.

Justin popped up from her blankets, "Are you okay?"

The boy stared at her, "What… why aren't you asleep!? Isn't it Christmas or something?"

Justin grinned, "I'm waiting for Santa!"

The boy groaned, "Oh brilliant."

"Are you cold?" Justin asked. She jumped up out of her blankets, grabbing his arm and tugging him down into her big nest. She pulled up her red fluffy one. "Here ya go, this one's the warmest!"

He started to protest, but once that blanket hit his feet, he grabbed it, wrapping it all around himself. Justin stared at him a minute, "What's that white stuff on your nose?"

The boy shrugged, brushing away the leftover crack, "Medicine."

"Yuck." Justin growled, "Medicine is nasty!"

Her walkie talkie sprang to life, Kyler's voice clear. "Justin, do you see Santa yet?"

Justin picked up her walkie talkie, "Nope, but Jack Frost is here!"

The boy raised an eyebrow at her, "Jack who?"

Kyler gasped, "I better pretend I'm sleeping then!"

Justin turned off her walkie talkie, before diving down into the other blankets, pretending to sleep herself.

That lasted for about five seconds.

She popped her head up again, "Hey Jack, what does Santa look like? How many tattoos does he have? Where did he get his swords from? Can he give me and elf for Christmas since they don't make the toys anyways? No, scratch that! Can he give me one of his yeti's? Can he teach me how to sword fight? Can he teach me to speak Russian?"

The boy stared at her, "Where the hell was this version of Santa when I was growing up? My dad would have _encouraged _that one! But no, I got an old fat man with a bowl full of jelly that my dad forbid from the house."

Justin just stared at him, "That didn't answer any of my questions. Hey, can you take me flying?"

He rolled his eyes, "I'll throw you off of a roof and toss you a grappling line, that's about it."

Justin shook her head, "Never mind, it's to cold out to fly anyways."

The boy shook his head as Justin finally settled down, "You are one weird kid."

Justin didn't even respond, she was out like a light. One reached over and picked up the empty monster can, "Don't you know drinking this takes you from sixty to one eighty, then plummets you to zero?"

She let out a small gurgle in her sleep.

"Ya know, I could kill you, right now. You body guard isn't around, your parents are sleeping, and since you're passed out, you wouldn't make any noise at all."

No response.

The boy shrugged, "Huh, funny. My sister isn't anything like you."

Without even waiting for a reply, One stood up, tucking the red blanket under his arm, and walked over to the chimney, planning to craw up it again. He paused by the plate of milk and cookies left out for Santa, before chugging down the milk and tucking the cookies into his hoodie.

He gave one last look at Justin, before shaking his head, "Damn kid, you better grow up faster then that. You've the League of Assassins, and Batman after you."

He disappeared up the chimney, not being able to help mumbling a quick, "Who the hell is Jack Frost?"


	24. Kidnapped!

Justin and Kyler were playing in Blake's front lawn, enjoying the few spring flowers that had managed to pop up around the yard. Jay and Blake were down in Blake's room, a.k.a. the basement, doing whatever it is guys do. Which means watching porn.

Jay stared at Blake's TV screen, "How is that… I mean, is that really possible? That's got to be photo shopped, right?"

Blake shrugged, drinking a soda. "I don't know, but I definitely wanna try it out."

Jay hesitated, "Blake, let me get this straight, we're both thirteen, watching porn, and thinking about trying out the moves?"

"If you don't like it, go play basket ball, but I here there's a three way coming on."

"… Maybe a little longer."

"Ha, that's what she said."

Kyler was arguing with Justin over what to do, "I don't wanna go down to the pond Justin! If my parents find out I went down there without Jay or Blake again, I'm gonna get grounded!"

"Oh cry me a river you dumb Jew!" Justin snapped, "Why don't you put the Menorah down and just grow a pair!"

Kyler glared at Justin. "Shut up you soulless ginger!"

"I'm not a ginger!"

"Hey kid."

Justin and Kyler both looked up to see a white van parked on the curb. The man in the driver's seat was grinning at them. Justin spoke first. "What is it mister?"

"Do you want a bike?" He asked.

Justin's eyes lit up, "Yeah!" She rushed over to the window, peering in at the man, "You've got a bike!? Where is it?"

"It's in the back-"

Justin dropped down, throwing the side van door open, "What the- where's the bike!?"

"Uh… I forgot, I left it in my basement-"

"Well why didn't you say so!?" Justin asked, slamming the side door shut, opening the passenger door and jumping in, buckling up, "Come on, drive! Let's go!" She shut the door, "Let's do this thing! Whoo hoo! I'm gonna get a _bike_!"

The guy stared at her, juggling his morals about doing this to what must surely be a retarded child, before shrugging. A kid was a kid.

He drove off, with Justin in shot gun, and Kyler on the front lawn.

Kyler stared after the van, mouth hanging open. She suddenly turned around, running up to Blake's door. "JAY!"

One watched form a nearby tree, face palming. "I don't think _parents _are to be blamed for their kids getting abducted…"

One had two options, he could either rush after the van, save Justin, be the hero of the day, and walk away knowing he's done a good dead. Or, he could just sit back, watch, and enjoy seeing his little brother try and fail to save Justin, then jump in to help and rub it all in Jay's face.

Or maybe he could just watch, not interfere, and watch his little brother, the red haired brat, and the goth boy Blake all get killed. Maybe the brown haired brat too.

One chuckled to himself, that choice was a no-brainer.

_Okay guys! Yeah, I know, it's ridiculously short, but I just felt it should end there._

_And another thing, do you wanna read Jay's origin story, based on his main version, revenge of the desperate? Then check it, on Red-X 17's profile!_

_His link should be on the review pages of this story, he's got the poster for Assassin's Creed III as his profile picture. So if you're a fan of Jay, and want to know his life story, then go check it out!_


	25. Big Brothers

Jay and Blake stared at Kyler as she finished her story. Jay's jaw dropped open, wondering why the hell Jason never taught Justin about stranger dangers. Well, actually Jay could probably guess there were three reasons for that. Number one, no crime had ever happened in their neighborhood. Number two, he was around Justin nearly 24/7, and any punk who tried to hurt Justin would get their ass handed to them by a thirteen year old ninja with ten years of training under his belt. Number three, if Jason ever found out someone hurt or kidnapped his daughter, hell if anyone ever bumped into her on the street, he would torture them for hours on end, and just let them bleed out right then and there.

Probably do the same to whoever was to blame for Justin getting kidnapped… oh no.

Jay looked up at Blake, "Dude, I've got to get her back before Jason finds out, or he is going to kill me. _Literally _kill me!"

Blake nodded, "No problem bro, I've got the goods!"

Blake walked over to his bed, lifting up the mattress, "Take a look."

Jay looked, seeing a variety of weapons hidden in the box spring. There were two hand pistols, and one cutting edge sniper rifle. There were three grenades, eight different knives (some were styles Jay hadn't even seen), nun-chucks, a Japanese katana, seven throwing stars, a retractable bo staff, several bundles of rope, a cross-bow and several arrows, three first aid kits, and even, two batarangs.

"Where did you _get _this stuff!?" Jay asked, not being able to handle the fact his best friend _slept _on a damn _arsenal_.

"Well, I got the guns from my uncle, he's a sniper for the Army, and he got really drunk about three Christmases ago, and just gave them to me. I got most of the knives form this dealer five blocks from school, I kind of made the grenades myself, and the rest I got of the internet."

"… how did you even afford all this-"

"I'll tell you later, now do you want to save your sister, or not?" Blake asked, "The police are absolutely useless, so where do we start looking?"

Kyler piped up, "I remember the numbers on the van!"

Blake sat down at his desk, "Tell them to me, I'll hack into the traffic cameras and see if I can tell where he's going."

Jay couldn't get any more shocked, "You can do that?"

"A ten year old with a cell phone could do that." Blake waved off.

Kyler told him the license plate number, and he quickly went to work, "Hey Jay, this is gonna take awhile, take carrot top home, bribe her into keeping quiet, then come back ,I should have something for you then."

Jay lead Kyler down the sidewalk, making her swear up and down not to tell anyone, ever. And topped it off with a Twix bar.

Jay went back to Blake's, and he had punched an address into his GPS, "I've got his house, let's get this son of a bitch."

Blake took the sniper rifle, shoving it into his duffle bag, and Jay took the hand guns, shoving them into his back pack. Blake took the katana. Jay took the retractable bo staff. Blake took the batarangs. Jay took the ninja stars.

"You think we've got enough?" Blake asked.

Jay nodded, "Yeah, anymore and we'll be suspicious, with these huge bulging bags."

"That's what-"

"If you say that's what she said again, I'm gonna hit you."

"Rodger that."

Both boys jumped on their bikes, riding on the sidewalks through town, past all the traffic, and into a more crime infested part of Star City. A kind of block where if someone screams "Rape!" Everyone just kind of walks away.

Blake pulled up next to an abandoned garage, parking his bike out, "Alright man, I'm pretty sure this is the place."

"Pretty sure?" Jay asked.

"The traffic cameras stopped about eight miles back." Blake said, wiping sweat from his brow, "But the van was registered to this address. So yeah, I'm pretty sure."

**WITH JUSTIN:**

The minute the man had taken me into his house, I could just tell, _something _was wrong. He smiled in a weird way. He touched me in a weird way. He talked to me in a weird way.

His smile was to big, and his eyes were never looking at my face when he talked, he just kept staring at my pants. When he touched my shoulder to guide me into a different room, his thumb would stroke it, rubbing tiny circles into my muscles.

"Do you like the color pink?" he asked, holding up a small little pink circle inside a see through plastic package.

"No."

"…Do you like the color red?" He asked, smiling creepily again, holding up a red circle instead.

I nodded, "Yeah, I like red. My daddy really likes red too. He says that he really likes the color red because it's the color of blood."

He stared at me for a minute, and then grinned. "Can you play a game with me then?"

"… What game?"

"It's called the quiet game-"

"No way!" I snapped, "My mommy tricked me with that game once, and I'm not doing it again! She said it was a game, but it wasn't! She just wanted me to stop singing in the car!"

I started to walk past him, "Yer a stinker face mister! And I'm not falling for it!"

He suddenly grabbed my shoulder, yanking me up and sitting me down on his table, "Kid, I've tried to be nice about this, but if you're not going to behave, you're going to be _punished_."

"… no."

"What?"

"No, you can't punish me, because yer not my daddy!"

He grinned again, "You can call me daddy, if you want to."

"Yer not my daddy! My daddy is taller than you, and he lifts a lot of weights! He's got guns in his closet, but I'm not allowed to touch them."

For a moment, the man looked scared, but then he just brushed it off, "No big deal, not like he'd ever find me."

"I did."

We both looked up to see Jay in the doorway, holding a gun, but it didn't look like Daddy's gun.

The man looked really scared, and he stepped away from me, "Who, who are you?"

"That's my little sister."

Blake walked in the other door, pointing a bigger gun at the man, "Yeah, and my protégé in the dark arts."

I nodded, crossing my arms at the man as I stood up on the table, trying to look mad, "Yeah, and you're a conformist!"

"You, you boys have it all wrong, I just found her wandering around the city, and she said she was lost-"

"You're holding a condom." Blake said.

"She found my stash under my couch cushion, I was just trying to tell her not to-"

"Save it!" Jay yelled, "Blake, take Justin out of here."

Blake frowned, "But I wanna shove a knife up his ass."

"Blake!" Jay snapped.

Blake groaned, "Fine, come on little fire cracker."

I jumped down from the table, walking out of the building with Blake. I heard a scream from inside, and tuned to look, "What's going on?"

Blake pulled me onto the sidewalk, taking out his MP3 player, "Here, listen to some of my songs, okay?"

By the time Jay had come out, I had already listened to all of Blake's Nickleback songs. Jay put all of his stuff from his backpack into Blake's duffle bag, and then strapped his backpack to his handle bars. He put me inside the back pack, but left it unzipped so I could stick my head out, "Are you comfortable Justin?"

"No."

"Good, after riding all the way across Star City to find you, nighter are we." Blake laughed.

It was a long ride back home, when we got back we had already missed dinner, but I wasn't that hungry because Blake gave me a candy bar.

When we got back to our neighborhood, Blake left to go to his house, and Jay and me walked home. The minute Jay opened the door, Daddy ran into the living room, "WHERE WERE YOU!?"

Jay flinched, "Justin is fine-"

Daddy scooped me up, yanking me away from Jay, "I can see that, wait for me in the garage!"

Jay ran out to the garage, and Daddy slammed the door closed, and then just stood there, holding me. He just held me for a long time, and then I felt his shoulders shaking. "Daddy?"

I pulled myself away from his shoulder, and looked at his face, but he turned away, sniffing, and then put his sleeve up to his eyes, "I'm just, I'm just really tired Justin, okay? Are you tired?"

I nodded, "Yeah, Jay and Blake drove me all around town today, it was fun! Except for the weird man in the white van, but Jay made him leave me alone."

Daddy was quiet for a minute, "Justin, what did this man do to you before Jay made him stop?"

"He showed me this weird thing, Blake called it a condom."

Daddy's grip tightened on me, "KIM!"

Mommy stepped into the room, "What?"

"Honey, can you put Justin to bed, I wanna talk to Jay."

Mommy put me into bed, singing a lullaby to me. "There's a place not far, where the wild things are. You might not believe me but it's true. There's a place, so near. Close your eyes and let it appear. There's a whole world, waiting for you. There's so much more wonderful than we can see. Close your eyes and believe. Close your eyes it's not hard, to go where the wild things are. To go where the wonderful wild things are."

**WITH JASON:**

I walked out into the garage, seeing Jay standing there. "Jay."

Jay looked up at me, fear evident in his eyes. "Yes sensei?"

"Justin told me what happened. Where's the sick bastard that tried to… tried to rape my daughter?"

Jay paused, "You're not… mad at me?"

"Where is he!?" I snapped, grabbing the front of Jay's shirt and shaking him slightly.

"Dead." Jay answered, "I killed him."

I felt my entire body deflate, every ounce of anger falling out of me, just vanishing like smoke into the air. Before I could even register what I was doing, I wrapped my arms around Jay, hugging him tightly. "Thank you. Thank you so much Jay."


End file.
